Fatal Love
by Attanea
Summary: Temari and Shikamaru have an unorthodox relationship: A sexist, lazy genius and a bossy kunoichi... But the most unexplained thing is why both of Temari's brothers would be against it. Both are protective, but there has to be more to it...
1. Sand Sibling Truth

And here begins a story of hate, fatal and forbidden love, and a horrible feeling of betrayl. And, above all else, forgiveness?

* * *

**Sand Sibling Truth**

Many people believed that the three sand siblings were all the children of the last Kazekage. However Temari actually had no blood relation at all. When Kankurou was merely a six month old baby, playing at home with his small toy puppet in the middle of November, his mother had been killed while on an A-Rank mission. Of course, at that age, this didn't mean much to him, especially since he was mostly bottle fed and rarely got to spend time with her.

It wasn't long after this – January, in fact – that the Kazekage remarried. (Many expected a previous affair). This new woman in Kankurou's life already had a seventeen month old daughter. Temari. Even at a young age, these two, new siblings often got into quarrels, none too soft on the physical damage that they could cause. Even so, they never truly hated each other.

Also, Temari's mother wasn't a ninja, which meant she spent much more time at home than Kankurou's birth mother had. Emphasized by the fact that he was also now a little older, Kankurou grew more attached to this loving woman, not taking long to start calling her 'mommy.'

One year after the new marriage of the Kazekage, disaster struck this family when the Kazekage's second wife died, this time by giving birth to a demon disguised as a child. Unlike before when his birth mother had died, Kankurou understood what had happened, Temari even more so. For the longest time they both hated this newest addition to their family.

Though he was bound to both by blood – Kankurou through his father and Temari through her mother – this child never experienced the love that he so desperately needed. Kankurou and Temari often sought each other as a refuge; as they witnessed the terror of his childhood unravel. There was nothing they could do but watch, scared to reach out a comforting hand, as the demon child grew up in lonely hate, becoming what he is today. Gaara of the Desert.

But he's not the problem.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The thing that riled Kankurou up the most was that Temari always seemed to forget that they weren't actually brother and sister. She was always making him do stuff for her and pushed him around – and not in the cute smiles kind of way – just like a sister who believed that no matter how much she bugged him, her brother would never, truly hate or hurt her.

_Which, of course,_ he thought to himself, _I won't._ He sighed. _Why can't she ever bug Gaara instead?_ Then he smirked at the obvious answer.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Kankurou!" Temari's sharp yell came through the kitchen into the dinning room, where Kankurou was eating breakfast.

"What do you want now?" he growled as he was about to bite into his toast, dropping it back onto his plate in a huff.

Temari strode into the dinning room, hands on her hips. "_This time_ you'd better to remember to feed my plant! I don't want to come back again to find it half dead."

Kankurou rolled his eyes. "Well if it didn't attempt to bite my hand off whenever I tried to feed it, I might feel more obliged."

Temari glared at him.

"Alright, alright, I'll risk loosing hands for your stupid plant," Kankurou said as he thought of the giant, carnivorous plant in the hallway upstairs. Temari narrowed her eyes at him, and then left the room, seemingly satisfied.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Temari fumed as she thought of going back to Konoha. She had spent a great deal of time there these past few months due to the preparations for the upcoming chuunin exam. Each month consisted of normally one or two weeks in Konoha and then the remaining two or three back home. The constant traveling was getting, dare she say it, tiresome, and it was making time seem incredibly shorter as she had something to await almost every week.

Though the travel and lost time had its regrets, the real problem was the lazy ass she had to spend most of her time with while she was there. And there was nothing she could do about it. She grimaced as she remembered the loud-mouthed Naruto accuse them of being on a date once. She had said she would never date a guy like him, which held every ounce of truth. He was getting even worse off late, becoming, if possible, even lazier, and talking less and less. It was aggravating!

She supposed she could just not go, perhaps send someone else in her place. But she knew that would be taken as an insult by the whole village. Also, she wouldn't be able to properly explain everything to someone else in the short time before she had to leave.

She could request to have someone else to work with… But the Fifth Hokage would find that rude, along with the fact that there was no one else for the job. Temari sighed, picking up her rucksack and leaving her room to head downstairs. Once she stepped out the front door into the blazing sunlight, she realized how much she missed the green and shade of Konoha. She decided to use this for motivation as she headed to the gates of Suna.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Troublesome. Nothing but troublesome._

Shikamaru lay on his bed, his hands tucked under his head, one leg bent with its knee in the air, the other leg laid out flat. He glanced at the crowd of stars outside the open window, finding it impossible to sleep. It felt like only yesterday that the damned kunoichi had shoved him down the stairs of his own house in her hurry to leave the village. It had left him with a headache and a sore body, with bruises to show.

And now sleep escaped him, knowing that his two weeks of escape were about to end tomorrow morning. Not only would she be arriving early, but he was the one that had to get up two hours before to be sure he was there to meet her. The arrival of her, as unfortunate as that fact was by itself, also meant more work on behalf of these troublesome Chuunin exams that were to begin within three weeks. He wondered if that meant one long stay, or two short ones, for the kunoichi from Suna. He hoped it would be the short ones.

Sighing in frustration, he turned onto his side, his sheets twisting with him. With one arm propped behind his head, he closed his eyes and forced himself to sleep.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She was late. Three hours late, in fact, as it was already one in the afternoon.

"Troublesome woman," Shikamaru sighed. _She's probably taking her time on purpose. That would suit me fine if I didn't have to be the one waiting for her._ He sat down on a rock with a groan, rubbing the back of his neck.

Ten minutes later, he saw someone approaching on the road leading from Konoha. _Finally_, Shikamaru thought as he squinted into the distance. He could only make out the outline of the person striding slowly towards the gates, but he knew it was her from the giant fan strapped to her back.

A minute or two later, the kunoichi reached Shikamaru and stopped. She stood with her arms folded across her chest and her weight on one hip. She wasn't looking at him. She hadn't even glanced at him the whole time.

Shikamaru, who had been watching her approach, squinted up at Temari from his place on the rock. He put his hands on his knees and stood up with a groan. Putting his hands in his pockets and standing beside her in his usual slouch, he knew that making a sly comment about her timing would only result with her snapping something back at him. That would just be too troublesome, so he let it go.

Without a word, or even a glance at each other, they headed into the bustling streets of Konoha. Shikamaru had learnt to keep his mouth shut around her unless absolutely necessary. He didn't see the point in getting into an argument with such a woman. His lack of words seemed to irritate her, but that was just the way he liked it.

Even if Temari wouldn't snap at him when he spoke, he didn't see the point in long conversation. Or conversation at all, for that matter. Topics for conversations often involved talking about something recent that you did that the listener could care less about. Most people ended up bragging, seeking pity or attention, or they're just plain annoying. Topics, such as how successful your last mission was in a way that explains every detail of it, would be bragging, and talking about how you lost a leg in the process would be seeking the pity or attention. And, of course, there was the topic of going on and on about you're favorite hobby non-stop, which is just plain annoying unless you can find someone with the same hobby. Shikamaru and Temari definitely didn't have any of the same hobbies. So all in all, conversation was pointless.

They reached the building with the small office inside where Anko kept the information and papers on the Chuunin exams. There objective for this week was to go over all the genin that were supposed to be participating, and sending messages to their village to remind and confirm. Then they had to set up the right amount of lodgings for whoever was coming. All were troublesome and boring tasks that he'd rather not do, but at least it would be over soon. Anko, naturally, was no help at all. She was, if possible, lazier than Shikamaru.

He sighed as he stepped into the office, Temari following behind him. "Ano…" Shikamaru began. "Are you going back to Suna for a week after this, or will you be staying all three weeks until it begins?"

"Well wouldn't you just love it if I went home for a week?" Temari shot at him.

"Whoa, calm down. I was just asking."

"From the way you asked, you might as well of shouted that you didn't want me here," she said, shuffling through the piles of paper.

Shikamaru groaned. "Just never mind," he said. _This is exactly why I don't talk to her._ "Troublesome woman," he muttered. Temari's head snapped round and looked at him properly for the first time since arriving. She was glaring at him. Shikamaru lifted his arm as he looked away, and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shikamaru had finally managed to finish up the required paperwork for the day and was headed to the park to watch clouds on the hill. He stopped just before turning a corner as he heard his name in someone else's conversation.

"Shikamaru is so unmotivated," he heard Anko talking. "I'm sorry you had to be stuck with him. I can just imagine the tension between you two."

"Yeah, well," Temari sighed. "At least I get a lot of time to think. Every where else I go there's too much going on to get a thought to myself. Though it would be nice if he tried conversation every once in a while."

Shikamaru leaned against the wall with his hands in his pockets, listening to the conversation around the corner. At Temari's last comment, he made a what-the-fuck face. _Yeah, because that's my fault,_ he thought.

"It's like," she went on, "Every time he says something, it has a hidden message of how he doesn't want me around."

Anko laughed, and Shikamaru could picture the grin on her face. "Yeah, that's Shikamaru for you. Have you ever tried starting a conversation yourself?"

"Well, I gave up because he would always ignore me. Not even a look of acknowledgement that he heard me," Temari answered with a huff.

"Well, don't take it too personally. We both know he'd rather watch clouds than do paperwork." Shikamaru could hear the smile in her voice.

_That Anko; either too happy, or too angry… Either way she's scary and loud._

"It's not that I really care about conversation with that lazy ass, anyway," Temari said as if in defense. "I don't give a damn what he thinks. But if we have to be stuck with each other so much, it wouldn't hurt to be civil."

_Yeah, because us not getting along is all my fault,_ Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

Anko chuckled. "Yeah, not to mention he probably leaves all the work for you to do."

"He's not you Anko," Temari smirked. "He does what he's supposed to. Although, not without complaint."

Shikamaru raised his eyebrows at this sudden defense from Temari on his behalf.

Anko grinned sheepishly. "I guess you're right. Well, I'll see you around. Good luck with the lazy ass."

"Hmph." Shikamaru harrumphed at the same time as Temari, so neither Anko nor Temari heard him. He slunk into the shadows and jumped to the roof as Anko walked past. Glancing down to the street where they had talked, he saw that Temari was already gone.

_Troublesome woman. Maybe if you didn't blame everything on me and tried being civil yourself, we wouldn't find each other's company so aggravating. And maybe if you hadn't pushed me down the stairs… _Shikamaru grimaced as he remembered the last time she had left.

Temari had come looking for him at his house to let him know she was heading back home and asking if there was anything else left for her to sort out. Luckily, there hate for each other didn't stop them from doing their work properly. His mother had told her he was up in his room, so she went up to find him. He had already been heading out of it when she got up the stairs.

He had asked what she wanted. She had told him she was leaving and Shikamaru had cut her off at that and said it was about time. She had flipped out and started yelling at him, saying that she had come to ask if he needed her to finish anything up and that he was an ignorant, lazy ass. He had said she was being a troublesome, hot-tempered bitch under his breath, and the next thing he knew he had been grabbed by the collar and thrown down the stairs.

_I suppose I deserved it. Normally I'm smart enough to avoid something as troublesome as an argument with a bossy kunoichi. But no,_ he sighed. _I had to say what I thought out loud._

Shikamaru jumped down to the street below and continued to the park.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Next chapter: Attack In The Night  
-Atty 


	2. Attack In The Night

And so begins Chapter Two. Just how long can they hate eachother for?

* * *

**Attack In The Night**

Temari leaned against the railing of the balcony from the apartment she occupied whenever visiting Konoha. On her third day back this week, genin had started arriving for the Chuunin exam. Now, on the fourth night, there were three teams already moved into the hotels arranged for them. Her arms were folded on top of the banister, and she bent her head back to stretch her neck. Her giant fan and other hidden weapons were just inside by her bed. The door between the bedroom and the balcony was partially closed. She had already discarded her weapons for the night, and slipped into a wrap-around kimono for sleeping. Needing some fresh air, she had slipped outside for a few minutes before heading to bed.

She had never expected to be attacked so late at night and in a village she was allied with. Especially not during the Chuunin exams when security was increased. So when someone jumped silently from above, ripping her down into the dark alley as he fell, she was caught completely off guard, as well as weaponless. Two other men came out of no where to help restrain her and it all happened so fast she was sure they had stopped time with a jutsu.

She found herself with a seal over her mouth to steal her voice, her arms held tightly against her back by a huge man and her legs were bound by hard rock up to her knees. Another man stood with a wakazashi slanted at her throat and the third man stood in front of her, smirking. She felt embarrassed for being captured so easily, and terrified at their skill. From what little light there was in the alley, she saw the Hidden Rock Village symbol etched into one of their forehead protectors.

She narrowed her eyes, remembering greeting them at the gates of Konoha with Shikamaru earlier that day. _Traitors,_ she figured from their actions. _They probably want to start a war between Konoha and Suna, and I'm guessing my dead body is what's going to start it. A pretty good plan considering Gaara, but they'll never get away with it._ She struggled viciously against her bonds and tried to scream, but not even a small moan or grunt could be heard through the seal.

"Ah, you're a feisty one, aren't you?" said the man in front of her. He had at sly voice and his arms were folded over his chest, slightly leaning back as he examined her. "If you think we've come to start a war, we don't actually want any trouble."

Temari gave a violent tug in an attempt for freedom to voice her opinion of 'yeah right.'

"We just need a simple piece of information," the man went on. "You see, we've taken the Chuunin exam quite a few times now and, as you can see, are quite skilled with our abilities. However, the reason we can never pass is because at least one of us can't get past the written exam. So, we want _you_ to tell us what the secret is, hm? What's required to pass the first exam?"

Temari glared at him.

"I'll remove this seal from you're mouth, and if you cry out my buddy over here will slice open you're neck." The one beside her with the sword grinned wickedly and pressed the sharp edge against her neck for emphasis, drawing blood. "Got it?" The man that was clearly the leader went on. "Nod and I'll remove the seal."

Temari nodded slowly. The leader ripped the seal from her face, and it gave her an electrical sting. As he waited for her answer, she spat in his face.

"You little bitch!" he said, wiping the spit away and slapping her across the face. She gave a wry smile as her head turned back to face him. She wasn't about to scream for help, but she wasn't going to tell them either. How stupid did you have to be to not have passed the first exam yet?

The leader leaned closer to her, anger flashing through his eyes. Then they softened into an amused grin as he tried a different tactic. "You're kind of cute," he said. "Especially when you get angry. You got a boyfriend?"

She glared at him and still didn't answer. Her breathing was getting heavier and the big man behind her was pressed up against her back so close that she could feel his sweat. He arms were twisted funny and were beginning to go numb.

"Maybe if I have my way with you, you'll loosen you're tongue." He said it as if he was teasing her and shock crossed her face for a moment before she hid it away again. Though the big man behind her didn't let go, the one with the sword drew it back, though he was still ready to use it. The leader stepped even closer to her and as his mouth leaned down to hers and his hand went to wrap around her waist, he froze, his eyes open in shock.

He seemed to struggle against invisible hands as he stood straight and his hands came together. She could feel the man behind her loosening his grip against his will and could see the man with the sword out of the corner of her eye as his hands came together as well. Looking back at the man in front her, she recognized the seal his hands were forming.

"Now, that's not a very nice way to treat a woman, no matter how hot-tempered she is." A voice came from the end of the alley and Temari's head shot in its direction to see Shikamaru standing there with his hands holding the seal for his jutsu. "Shadow imitation jutsu: success."

Temari smirked at him. "Took you long enough."

"Yeah, well," he sighed. "You know me: always lazing around somewhere."

"Who is this guy?" said the leader, mockingly. "Your boyfriend?"

Before Temari could come up with a smart comment, Shikamaru replied.

"What if I am?" he asked, and Temari's mouth dropped open. "Did you ever consider that if she had a boyfriend, he'd come looking for her?" The rock ninja growled. "Temari?" Shikamaru called to her, as she was still standing with her mouth open. She gathered her composure quickly before answering.

"What?" she shot at him.

"If you knock out the guy that cast that jutsu on you," he said nodding to the rock around her legs, "it should cancel itself. I'd do it only I'm concentrating on my jutsu."

"But if I kick one of them while you're attached to their shadows, that'll effect you, too. Besides, I don't know which one it was!" Temari glared at each of the rock ninja in turn, who seemed to not want to get involved in a fight between the so-called 'couple.'

"I'm touched that you're worried about me, really," Shikamaru said, though he sounded more exasperated than anything. "But I know what I'm doing so just hurry up! I can't hold them all for much longer."

Temari scowled at him and threw a heavy punch at the man in front of her. Just as her fist connected with his face, Shikamaru released his hold on him. The rock ninja fell to the ground, unconscious, but the rock around her legs didn't move. She rounded on the ninja with the sword and did the same to him as Shikamaru released another shadow. This time the rock around her feet crumbled when the man fell to the ground. Turning to the big man behind her, she did a flip backwards to make room and could see that he looked rather terrified. She swung her leg round and connected it with the side of his head to put him out of his misery.

"So," she said, dusting off her hands and fixing her kimono. "Why didn't you just strangle them all with you're jutsu?"

"They're genin from another village," he said as he stood up straight and rubbed the back of his neck. "We can't just kill them on the spot. No. We'll need to tie them up and have someone watch them while we go tell Tsunade what happened." He closed his eyes and sighed. "It'll be troublesome, but it can't be helped."

Temari smirked at him. "Who knew I'd be saved by a lazy ass like you?"

"Was that your way of thanking me?" he asked, opening one eye to look at her.

"Who said anything about thanking you?" She continued to smirk as she looked back at the three rock genin lying in the alley, throwing an extra kick at the leader. Shikamaru opened his other eye and smirked as well. It seemed their arguments were inevitable, but at least this time there was no real venom.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After Tsunade had been told of the incident – and she was none too happy from the late hour – Shikamaru left the Hokage's building with Temari.

"So you were grabbed right off you're balcony and you didn't even have a weapon?" he teased her, and was rewarded with a painful punch in the arm. Instead of answering his question, she responded with one of her own.

"So you think you're good enough to be my boyfriend?"

Shikamaru just laughed. "Only those rock ninja and Naruto would be stupid enough to think that."

She gave him a quizzical look as they walked on. "Three weeks." She said without looking at him.

"Hm?" he asked. "Three weeks for what?"

"I'm answering the first question you asked me when I got here. I'll be staying for the full three weeks. Well, two and a half now. Ill be here until the first exam starts, and then I'm heading back to Suna for a week until the second part begins."

"Oh no," Shikamaru grinned. "How will I ever live through it?"

She punched him again, though not as hard as before, and turned her head away to hide her smile.

"Are you going to be alright walking home by yourself?" Shikamaru asked. "I wouldn't want you to be helplessly attacked again."

"Enough already!" She huffed. "I have my fan this time anyway so I'll be fine."

"Alright," he let out a small laugh. "I'll see you tomorrow then." As he turned to leave she grabbed his arm and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

"Thank you," she said with a small smile. He only stared at her, his mouth slightly open with the smallest hint of shock. When he didn't move, she scowled at him. "Well, go on then! Piss off."

He smirked at her and she hid a smile underneath her hand. Without another word, he took a turn, walking off with his hands in his pockets and was engulfed by the darkness.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Don't be mislead! The story continues, and it will continue for a while.. Oh yes, there is a twist. And I betcha can't guess what it is :P.  
-Atty 


	3. Lunch Dates

Gasp! I'm on a roll! I hope it's all believable. If it's not, lemme know and I'll fix it. .

* * *

**Lunch "Dates"**

Shikamaru sat with Temari in Anko's office, working on the last bit of paperwork for the Chuunin exams. All that could be heard was the skritching of their pens and the slow, constant tick of the clock on the wall. As Temari was thinking of how she would enjoy the upcoming week off, she wondered what she was going to do in Konoha with all her spare time.

Their two or three hours of almost complete silence was broken when Shikamaru sat back with a groan, putting down his pen.

"Now what?" Temari asked, glancing up from her paper.

"I'm bored," he stated flatly.

"Welcome to the club," Temari breathed as she looked back at her paper and continued scribbling on it. Shikamaru glanced at the sun outside and then at the clock with a sigh.

"Let's go get lunch," he said.

"Heh," Temari didn't look up. "You mean like a date?" she said sarcastically.

"Why would I go on a date with someone like you?" he asked, mocking what she had once said about him to Naruto. Temari put down her pen and scowled at him.

"Okay, fine. Let's go," she said, standing up. As she passed Shikamaru, who was pushing himself off his chair, she put and hand onto his chest and shoved him back down with a smirk. "Coming?" she said innocently as she reached the door.

He smirked at her and pushed himself up again with a groan, then brushed passed her as he walked out into the hall. Reaching the streets below, they fell into step beside each other as he headed to the restaurant that he often treated Chouji at. He was glad that it was Temari with him this time, knowing that if he ended up paying for her, it wouldn't destroy his wallet.

She didn't question him while he picked his way through the streets, and she didn't comment when they reached the barbeque place. Stepping inside, they were hit with the strong smell of barbeque sauce and a sweet, smoky smell. There was a slight haze over the many booths that had meat cooking on the grill in the table. The quick pops and sizzles could be heard over the buzz of conversation.

As Shikamaru and Temari ordered, he recognized a voice, slightly louder than the rest. Looking around, he saw Chouji shoving piece after piece into his mouth, with Rock Lee beside him. Across the table from Lee was the source of the voice: Naruto was complaining to Sakura, who was sat beside him. Sakura turned away from Naruto in a huff and spotted Shikamaru and Temari, calling out to them and waving them over. Temari smiled and walked over, Shikamaru following behind with a groan at the upcoming noisy conversation.

He sat down next to Chouji and Temari slid in next to Sakura. He felt Temari's foot lightly tap his shin when she put one of her legs over the other. He pretended not to notice. He saw that Chouji was the only one using the grill; Lee and Sakura both had different kinds of salads and Naruto sat with nothing.

"Ano, Sakura-chan," Naruto said, leaning over to her, covering his mouth with his hand, though Shikamaru heard it clearly. "Don't you think they'll want to sit alone if they're on a date?" Sakura's eyes widened and she turned to grin at them sheepishly.

"You guys aren't really on a date, are you?" she asked through her smile. Shikamaru closed his eyes and groaned, and Temari was the one to answer, just as he had expected.

"What if we are?" she said. A vein twitched in Shikamaru's forehead. He hadn't expected that.

"Ne, ne! You guys really on a date this time?" Naruto said gleefully.

"Ah, young love," Lee said, clasping his hands and putting them beside his cheek. Shikamaru shot him an evil look, and then turned to glare at Naruto.

"It's not a date," he said through gritted teeth and he noticed that Chouji was eyeing him skeptically as he continued to shovel food into his mouth. Naruto continued to grin at them and Sakura looked like she was suppressing a giggle. A waitress came over with Shikamaru and Temari's order, and Shikamaru tried to use it to change the subject.

"Ano, Naruto," he said. "Why haven't you ordered anything?"

"I'm meeting Iruka-sensei soon at Ichiraku so he can treat me to lunch," Naruto said through a smile.

"So, Temari," Sakura said, turning to her. "How much longer are you here for?"

"I'm just going to stay until the first exam starts," Temari said. "Because if I went home for a week, it would take me three days to get there and then I have to leave the day after to come back. I might as well just take a week off here."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense." Sakura said, eating the last bit of her salad.

"I bet you'll spend a lot of your time of with Shikamaru-kun!" Lee said, with a thumbs-up and a glint of his teeth. "Isn't that right, Temari-san?"

Temari sighed. "Why would I spend a week off with a lazy ass like him?" she smirked. "I'd rather spend my time training."

"Oh, that's right!" Lee almost shouted. "I was supposed to meet Guy-sensei for training five minutes ago! Oh, I hope he's not mad at me." And with that, he stood up onto the seat and flipped over everyone like a skilled ninja, landing softly on the wood flooring, then bolted out the door. Realization struck Sakura's face once Lee had left, and she slumped her shoulders.

"He didn't pay," she mumbled. Naruto laughed.

"Well, I'd better get going," Naruto said. "I don't want Iruka to think I'm not going to show up." And he flipped out of the booth, much like Lee, only he almost knocked Shikamaru's food off the table in the process.

"Excuse me, Temari-chan," Sakura said, pushing her finished salad further onto the table. "Could I just get out for a minute?"

"Yeah, of course," Temari said, sliding out of the booth for her.

"Chouji!" Sakura said, and Chouji looked up at her as he finished his last piece of barbeque. "Are you finished?"

"Ah!" he said, taking a big swig of his drink.

"Hurry up, then," Sakura pestered him, "I think these two would like some _alone_ time."

Shikamaru slid out this time to let Chouji pass, rolling his eyes in the process. They all muttered goodbyes to each other as Temari and Shikamaru sat back down. Temari's foot brushed his leg again and they both pretended not to notice.

"Hey, wait a minute," Shikamaru said, looking up at where Sakura and Chouji should be paying. He looked out the window to see them walking away and he sat back in his seat with a groan. Temari let out a small laugh.

"It looks like that want you to pay," she mused at him. Shikamaru took out his wallet and looked in it, then looked at Temari hopelessly.

"Do you want to pay for some of it?" he pleaded.

"Nope," she said, finishing up the last bit of her meal.

_Troublesome,_ Shikamaru thought with a groan. He finished his food up as well, and then stood to go pay. Temari followed behind him, but he figured he'd pay for her as well since it didn't make much of a difference now. When he started to get the money out of his wallet to pay the cashier, Temari came up beside him and hip-butted him to the side slightly, opening her wallet as well.

"I said I didn't want to, not that I wouldn't," she said, taking out enough money for half of the bill. He smirked at her and then paid the rest. Even though Temari had helped out, his wallet had still suffered.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The rest of their week consisted much the same as this; they worked on the Chuunin papers, went out for lunch, and were accused of being on a date if they were seen. Over all, it wasn't that bad.

On their week off, Sakura invited Temari to go shopping for a day with her and Ino. Ino seemed to be thoroughly pissed of that Temari was there, and when Temari had pulled Sakura aside to ask why, Sakura had said it was probably because of the dates she had gone on with Shikamaru. Temari had glared at her and said they weren't dates, and that she could have him. Ino, who had been pretending not to listen, became much for friendly after this.

Shikamaru had spent this day watching the clouds.

Shikamaru and Temari hardly saw each other this week. Shikamaru had the week off too because they couldn't send him on any missions so soon before the Chuunin exams were going to start. He took this time to his advantage, catching up with his clouds and Chouji. Temari had spent it mostly with Sakura and getting better acquainted with someone of the people in the village.

The week before the first exam, all the genins had arrived, with the exception of the Rock Ninja who had been sent back to their village with a warning and a refusal to let them take part in the Chuunin exams again if it was being hosted by Konoha. Shikamaru and Temari didn't actually have to do much in the way of work, much to Shikamaru's happiness. They merely had to introduce themselves to all the candidates from out of Konoha as representatives of the exam. It was troublesome to Shikamaru, but it didn't take long and before they knew it the first exam had started.

Temari waited around that day to find out the results so she would know how many teams she would have to deal when she got back. It was that afternoon that she left, and Shikamaru was the one, as usual, to walk her to the gates of Konoha.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So you're going to take a three day trip home," Shikamaru said as they headed for the gates. "And have hardly two days there before you have to come back?"

Temari sighed. "Yeah."

"That sounds too troublesome, why are you bothering?"

"Because unlike some people, I'm not a lazy ass," she said with a smirk. "Besides I haven't been home for a while and I'm not going to stay here just so you don't get lonely."

"Hey," he said. "I'm not asking you to stay. You can go home and stay there for all I care."

"Believe me; I would love nothing more than that. But I can't really trust you with everything that needs to be done," she said, digging her elbow into his side. "Also, I don't really have a choice since I was picked for one of the genin teams from Suna. What would happen if they opened the summoning scrolls once they reached the tower and I didn't show up?"

"Hmph." Shikamaru stuck his hands into his pockets as he walked; surprised that he hadn't done it already. Once they reached the gates, he said a quick good bye and turned to leave. "Troublesome woman," he muttered. He was about to walk away when Temari grabbed his arm and pulled him out of Konoha, ignoring the looks from Izumo and Kotetsu.

"Oi! Temari," he protested and tried to tug his arm free, but she only held on tighter. She pulled him out of sight from the road and round the side of Konoha's wall, slamming him against it.

"What the hell is you're problem?!" he yelled at her. "I say that all the time and you never care—"

He was cut off when her mouth fell over his. His eyes were open in shock as he tried to push her off, but his struggle was short-lived. He accepted the kiss, closing his eyes and parting his lips. She kissed him for another minute or so before elbowing him in the ribs, then pulling away. She walked off without another word, leaving him leaning, dumfounded, against Konoha's outer wall, with a swollen mouth and a hard-on.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Hmm... Now what? Fourth chapter should be up soon!  
-Atty 


	4. Uncertainty

Hmm... How will people react to the way people react? Many POV's this time. Hope you like it! .

* * *

**Uncertainty**

Kankurou was sprawled on his couch at home, shirtless and without any face paint, facing a fan powered on high. It was one of those hotter days in Suna. The kind when you wanted to do nothing but lie there. It would have been nice to go for a swim, but no one in the desert had a pool. Despite the constant wind blowing at his face and throwing his hair around violently, it felt like it was only blowing more hot air onto him. Sweat covered his entire body and dripped from his brow.

_Temari should be home today,_ he thought with a smile, which was quickly replaced with fear as he sat up on the couch. _Gah! Her plant! She's going to kill me!_ He rushed upstairs with the plants favorite food, which it lazily snapped into its mouth due to starvation. He looked at it hopelessly, and then glanced out of the window to see Temari walking down the street.

_Shit, she's home! _He bolted back downstairs and sprawled on the couch, feeling hotter than before and now thankful for the fan. He tried to look as innocent as possible as the front door opened and Temari stepped in.

"Hi, Kankurou," she said with a smile. He narrowed his eyes at her politeness and responded slowly, as if with caution.

"Hhhiiii."

"How did things go while I was away?" she said, slipping out of her shoes and dusting herself off from the sand outside. "Did you and Gaara eat alright?" Hair clung to her forehead from sweat and the silhouette that she made in the doorway – emphasized by the little clothing she wore due to the heat – would have been alluring to anyone who wasn't her brother. Kankurou continued to watch her with narrowed eyes as she walked up the stairs and didn't wait for an answer.

_She's too happy,_ he decided. _Well she won't be for long when she sees her plant._ He heard her walk across the landing upstairs, followed by the soft thud of her bedroom door closing behind her. _There's no way she didn't see it! Something's definitely up if she's that happy._ He shrugged it off, deciding to enjoy it while it lasted, but vowing to find out why later.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Temari lay down on her bed with a smug look on her face. Though it had been three days since, she couldn't get over what she had done.

_The look on his face,_ she laughed. _Priceless!_ She let her laugh wear off and her smile soon faded. _Now what? I can't face him again after that. Who knows what he's thinking?! Well he'll either hate me, think I'm in love with him and therefore thinks I'll become clingy, or he's decided to fall in love with me. Hmm… All of them are rather troublesome—_

She sucked in a breath as she thought that word. She sat up in her bed angry at herself, feeling a great need to take it out on someone. Then her mind finally registered the dying plant in the hallway.

"KANKUROU!?" she yelled, pushing herself roughly off her bed and going to her door to rip it open.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Oh no,_ Kankurou thought, pushing himself into an upright position. _She noticed._

Temari came thundering down the stairs, walking over to him as he stood up and getting right into his face.

"I though you said you were going to feed my plant!" she screamed. "Have you even looked at it recently? It might as well be dead it's been so starved! How would you like it if I didn't feed you for three weeks? Huh?!"

"It wasn't three whole weeks," Kankurou muttered. "I fed it for at least a week."

"What was that?!"

Kankurou looked at the floor, uncomfortable with having Temari's face so close to his, sweating, if possible, even more. Temari drew back with a huff and glared at him. He glanced at her with an apologetic look, to which she responded by rolling her eyes, turning on her heel, and walking back upstairs. Kankurou winced as she slammed her door so hard he could feel it where he stood.

_So much for her good mood,_ he sighed, slumping back onto the couch.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shikamaru lay on his bed with his arms behind his head, staring up at the ceiling.

_Troublesome. Nothing but troublesome. Damn girl!_ He had gone to bed early and was once again unable to sleep because of Temari. He had spent the past few days going over and over what had happened with her on that day she had gone back home. With the annoying memory invading his mind, he almost hated all the free time he had to think. Almost.

After Temari had walked away, leaving him against the outside wall of Konoha and surrounded by trees, he couldn't see her once she had reached the road. This meant he didn't know if she had laughed at him, or felt embarrassed, or anything. He'd had to stay there for a few minutes, leaning against the wall, waiting for his heart to stop beating so furiously and for his blood to leave the area that it had rushed to when she had rubbed her tongue against his. She had tasted fresh and sweet—

_Damn girl!_ He huffed, rolling onto his side. _She just had to make things so troublesome._ He lay there a bit longer, fuming over the details, before deciding it had all been done to spite him. It made sense, being the kind of woman she was, so it didn't take much convincing after he had come to this conclusion. The last thought he had before he fell asleep was how much it irked him that he had actually enjoyed it – and how hopeless it was that he wanted more.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gaara sat at the dinning room table across from Kankurou. Gaara had already finished his supper and was now content with watching Kankurou while his mind seemed to be elsewhere.

"Gaara?" Kankurou said, pulling him out of his trance. "Did you notice anything… ano… different about Temari?" Kankurou waited for a reply, eating his dinner as Gaara stared at him with his usual expressionless face. Kankurou, however, could now easily read Gaara's mood even though he looked the same as always. And he knew Gaara was thinking.

"Yes," Gaara finally said, then paused for another minute before continuing. "I think… something happened in… Konoha." Kankurou nodded in agreement, pushing his finished dinner plate away from him.

"She normally comes back in a fowl mood because of that shadow-punk they've got her working with. But yesterday she came home," he wondered if it was the right word, and decided it was: "Happy!" Gaara raised his eyebrows, or would have if he had any, but Kankurou noticed the change in his face. "I mean, it didn't last that long after she saw her plant. But she hadn't actually realized that it was dying until after she'd been in her room a few minutes."

"Perhaps they gave her someone else to work with?" Gaara suggested in his quite voice. Sand surrounded their finished plates and they were lifted up and through the open door into the kitchen, where they were deposited on the counter.

"Hmm," Kankurou rubbed his chin with his hand. "You know what? I think I'm going to ask her about it."

Gaara stood up and pushed his chair in. "Just don't piss her off when you do," he said simply before leaving the room.

Kankurou growled after him at the accusation and sat there for a while longer before retreating to his room.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Temari was packing her rucksack, grabbing everything she needed for her return trip to Konoha, when she heard a small rap on her bedroom door.

"Come in," she called, and Kankurou was the one who opened it. He stepped in to lean against the door, but knew better than to actually enter her room. "What is it?" she asked exasperated. She had been flustered the whole morning with thoughts of going back. She was glad she would have another three days before she would arrive in Konoha.

"Temari," he said, almost questioningly. "Did something happen the last time you were in Konoha?" Temari froze for a moment and looked up at Kankurou.

"What do you mean?" she asked with the best puzzled face she could muster.

"I mean with that shadow-punk," Kankurou said, folding his arms. Temari turned away and pretended to look for something as she was sure her face was turning red. "Normally when you get back home your angry when you step in the door. Also, you haven't been as pissed off as you normally are before you have to go back."

_Oh shit! He knows! But how could he possibly know?_ "What are you talking about?" she tried to mask her thoughts with anger, turning to face him with her hands on her hips. "I'm always 'pissed off' before I go?"

"Well, Gaara noticed it, too!" Kankurou shot at her in his defense. "We thought that maybe they'd put you with someone else instead, since the shadow-punk and you never got along." Temari let out a sigh of relief, which she cleverly disguised as a huff.

_So he doesn't know._ "They haven't put me with anyone else, no. But I made friends with that Sakura girl, so I wasn't stuck with Shikamaru the whole time. Besides, he wasn't as bad as he usually is."

Kankurou raised an eyebrow at her disbelievingly. She hadn't told them about the Rock Ninja attack because the Godaime Hokage and she had decided it would be better if Gaara _didn't_ find out.

"And I was happy when I came home yesterday because I hadn't been here in a while," she went on to try to convince him more. "Normally, I'm not away for so long." This only seemed to make him doubt her more, but instead of saying something, he pushed himself off the door and left her room.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Something's definitely up," Kankurou muttered as he passed Gaara, who had been listening from the hall. Gaara nodded slowly, and then dissolved into sand to materialize in his room. He heard Kankurou's bedroom door shut, followed by Temari leaving her room and shutting the door softly behind her.

"See you!" she called to both of them, then headed downstairs and left the house.

Something definitely _was_ up. And Gaara was going to find out what – as soon as Temari returned anyway.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shikamaru waited at the entrance to Konoha, sitting on the rock like he had last time. He only ever sat on it when she was late. Go figure that she was. He had always expected her to be late, but this time he had known. Unfortunately, _he_ still had to be there on time. He moved to sit on the ground so that he could lean his back against the rock. He had slept worse last night than any of the others since Temari had left.

_Heh. I wonder why,_ he thought as his eyes grew heavier. _Troublesome woman._

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shikamaru tended to wait for Temari outside of Konoha at a rock a little bit up the road. She supposed this had to do with the fact that no one could see him slouch off while he waited and no one saw his displeasure once she arrived. When the rock came into view, she saw him sitting on the ground this time, leaning against it.

He didn't look up when she approached, and once she got closer, she saw he was asleep. _Well,_ she thought. _I could leave you here and get you in trouble, or I can wake you up to piss you off._ She knelt beside him when she reached him and poked him in the ribs. He grunted but didn't open his eyes.

"Get up, you lazy ass."

He groaned.

She poked him again.

"Don't," he grunted.

"Someone's ticklish," she teased, and she went to poke him again, only to have him grab her wrist.

"I said don't," he finally opened his eyes, giving her an angry look.

"Can I have my hand back?" she said testily. He let it go and she jerked it back, standing up with a scowl. "You don't have to be such a hard-ass."

"Yeah, you're one to talk," he muttered, standing up as well.

"What was that?" she frowned at him as he looked away. Putting on her more professional demeanor, she started towards the village. "How long do we have before the second exam starts?" she asked.

"No idea," he said, following after her. "I lost track of time after the first two hours of waiting."

"Well what time does it start?" she asked.

"At three."

"Oh shit, are you serious?" she quickened her pace, hearing him groan and mutter something about 'troublesome' as he hurried to catch up with her. "We might as well already be late, you lazy ass!"

"It's not my fault," he protested. "You were the one that was late, not me!"

"You should have been keeping a better eye on the time! How was I supposed to know?" she said, clearly annoyed.

Shikamaru decided it would be less troublesome not to argue.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Don't worry! It's not the end of the world! But what do you expect? Honestly? Obviously they're gonna cover up their feelings with anger. :P Tee hee. It's okay. Things'll change...  
-Atty 


	5. Chuunin Exam

Ah, another chapter. I hope it had been looked forward to by at least someone cos I had a serious writer's block while coming up with how exactly to do things. But I love how it turned out so let's hope you do too...

* * *

**Chuunin Exam**

Of all the possibilities Temari had thought of for how Shikamaru would react to her kiss, it had been the one she had feared the most. He hated her.

She didn't really know why it would make him hate her so much, and she wasn't even sure why she _cared_ so much. They had hated each other before the Rock Ninja, so she shouldn't have expected anything from their short friendship. Still, she couldn't help but feel regret. Normally she would have responded with the same anger and hate, but this time she could only feel upset about the whole thing. She tried to avoid anything that would start an argument because she hated to hear the malice in his voice.

Sure, when she had first kissed him, it had been to fluster and spite him. But afterwards she had almost hoped that something… _more_ would come of it.

_Now why would I want something like that?_ she thought. _And why am I being so paranoid about the whole thing? Even if I did have a slight crush on him, it would be gone by now. The only reason I would feel like this would be if I loved him. And that's just impossible; there's no way anyone could fall in love after such a short time._

But the more she thought about it, the more she had to admit to herself that it hadn't started with the Rock Ninja. Perhaps she had known all along. The fuel for her anger came from her determination to hide her true feelings. She would have been afraid of being vulnerable to him.

But after the Rock Ninja – when malice and hate no longer masked every word – she had felt a possibility that _maybe_ he didn't hate her all that much. But now it was ruined; all because she had acted on impulse.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shikamaru could see Temari and it actually looked like she was sulking! Temari, actually _sulking_! He hadn't been that mean to her, had he? And why should she care anyway? It's not like she had kissed him because she cared about him. If it had been like that, she wouldn't have left him hanging the way she did.

And still, he didn't like to see her so upset. It made him regret his harsh words. It actually made _him_ upset about it as well.

_Troublesome woman. Couldn't just let things go back to the way things were._ But he didn't _want_ things to go back to the way they were. After the night she had kissed him on the cheek, he had begun to enjoy their not-so-friendly friendship. It had been fun and… _not_ troublesome. And she had ruined it with her little action before leaving Konoha. Or had he ruined it when she came back? He groaned.

_Troublesome woman._ Unlike Temari, he wasn't ready to admit the possibility that their prior hate for each other had been a cover up. But despite that, he couldn't pretend he didn't care.

They had finally reached the Forest of Death and Shikamaru groaned when he saw that the Genin had already arrived. That meant he and Temari were late. They, along with the other Chuunin and Jounin selected to be summoned for the Genin groups, were supposed to arrive at the gates, before the Genin, for a short meeting. Then they were given a head start to the tower, where they would await the arrival of their Genin teams.

When Anko spotted Temari and him approaching, she scowled at them and jerked her head to indicate that they were to wait behind the large group in front of her. Once she had explained everything to the Genin – none too little on her loudness and enthusiasm that they could possibly die – she gave them a ten minute break to go over the paper they had to sign about how the Chuunin Exam wouldn't be held responsible if they _did_ die.

Once everyone had broken off to go and read it, Anko trudged over to Shikamaru and Temari.

"Why are you so late?" she hissed. "Never mind that, hurry up and get to the tower. You remember the shortcut, am I right?" They both nodded and Anko resumed her cheeky smile from before. "Well, go on then! Just don't die on the way!" And she left them staring after her.

"Tch. Troublesome woman," Shikamaru scowled. He turned to Temari to ask if she was ready to go but found that she was already crouched on top of the fence.

"C'mon, you lazy ass!" she called to him, and jumped into the brush below. Shikamaru groaned and followed after her. Once he caught up, she was already racing through the tops of the trees.

"I'm not sure who's more troublesome," he grumbled. "You or Anko."

"I'm not sure who's more of a lazy ass," she flashed a grin at him. "You or Anko."

He smirked at her. "Now I know, it's definitely you," he said, trying to gain some ground on her. She matched his pace and poked him in the side. He grunted and fell behind her so she couldn't do it again.

"I thought I asked you not to do that," he said.

"You hardly asked," she said.

"Well, I'm asking you n—"

They stopped in their tracks when they saw one of the many big snakes of the Forest of Death wrapped around the tree in front of them. Temari turned to him with a sly look on her face.

"You want to have a bit of fun?" she asked.

"No," he said, heading back a bit to go around it.

"Now I know," Temari said, catching up to him. "It's definitely you."

"What?"

"You're more of a lazy ass than Anko."

"Tch. Troublesome woman."

It took them about three hours to reach the tower. It would have only taken them two if Shikamaru didn't insist on taking a detour around every giant creature or other such obstacle that they would have had to deal with. By the time they had reached the tower, they had already heard the first echoing screams of some of the Genin.

"It's a bit nostalgic," Temari said, landing on top of the tower beside Shikamaru with a grin. "All the screams."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, glancing back the way they had come. "Troublesome," he muttered.

They headed through the door and down the stairs to the meeting room. Only a few people remained, including Iruka, clearly annoyed that they were late.

"What took you so long," he asked. "People were starting to think you two had gone of together to have a bit of _fun_." Shikamaru sighed and Temari tried to hide a blush.

"Why on earth would I do something like that with him?" she tried.

"Well I wasn't thinking anything like that but others were saying something about what Izumo and Kotetsu had said the last time you left," Iruka said, facing Temari. "I didn't really hear all of it. It's probably just some rumor started since you guys have had to spend so much time together." He shrugged and waved them to follow him over to a desk. Shikamaru groaned when he saw who sat behind it.

"You two certainly took your sweet time," Anko flashed her cheeky grin at them. "Are you sure you didn't stop for some 'fun' or did you just forget the shortcut?" This time Temari only scowled.

"We took so long because this lazy ass over here had to go around every little thing we came across." She elbowed him in the ribs and he looked away with his hands in his pockets.

"Troublesome forest," he muttered.

Anko laughed. "Okay you two loved birds," she grinned again. "Listen up, you missed the debriefing early." Anko then went on to go over everything they already knew they had to do before, when and after each of their Genin teams' arrived. She then went on to tell them which team they had been assigned. Temari had a group from Suna, and Shikamaru had some rookies from Konoha. They were then given the room number for where they would be staying for the next five days.

Because they were last to arrive, they were given two of the rooms on the top floor of the tower. This suited Shikamaru fine because it meant he wouldn't be far from the roof where he could watch the clouds.

The neat thing about the Forest of Death's tower was that, on the ground level, it had all of the doors which the Genin could pass through, and then the big arena incase preliminaries were needed. The floor directly above served as a hospital, and there were rooms in the basement for things like sealing – one of which Kakashi had used to seal Sasuke's cursed seal the year Shikamaru had taken the exam. The third floor had a couple recreation rooms and a cafeteria for the early arrivals, as well as the Chuunin and Jounin that were to wait the full five days. All of the floors above were rooms to sleep for all the people that would be at the tower for more than a day.

Reaching the top floor with Temari, Shikamaru found his room, Temari's directly across from him. Unlocking it and walking in, he saw no more than a bed and bedside table. It was a small room that needed dusting and perhaps some air freshener. No doors branched off inside, and went he stuck his head into the hall he could see bathrooms at one end. Temari had stepped back out as well.

"Well this is cozy," she said sarcastically, leaning on the door post. "Let's go grab something to eat."

"You mean like a date?" Shikamaru smirked.

"Why would I go on a date with you?" she asked, smirking back.

"Well I'd love to tag along, but personally I don't feel like walking back down all those stairs.

"You're a ninja, you idiot! You can jump down easily!"

Shikamaru merely shrugged and headed for the staircase that would lead to the roof. "If you want," he called over his shoulder, "You could bring some lunch up for me."

"Heh, you wish," she said, turning on her heel and heading downstairs.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twenty-six hours and forty-seven minutes after the exam started, the first team arrived. Naturally, it was a team from Suna. Forty-one hours and thirty-two minutes after it had started the second team from Suna arrived, which was Temari's, so she went to go congratulate them on getting through the second stage. There were fourteen teams in total that had entered the forest, and by the fifth day, only one more team had arrived. Near the end of the fifth day, four teams had arrived, and Shikamaru's wasn't one of them.

"They probably won't make it," Shikamaru sighed. He lay on the roof top, watching the last few clouds as the sun began to set.

"Well isn't someone the pessimist?" Temari jeered. "You just don't want them to so you don't have to go and greet them."

"Tch. Troublesome woman." Shikamaru lay on his back, hands behind his head, with one knee over the other. Temari was leaning against the wall by the door to the staircase. Both arms were crossed over her chest and one foot rested on the wall.

They stayed there like that, maybe shifting slightly every now and then as the sun sank lower on the horizon. Neither bothered starting a conversation with the prospect that Shikamaru might have to leave at any moment to greet his team. The silence was comfortable, but at the same time Shikamaru couldn't help but feel like Temari was watching him instead of the sky. It made him think of the kiss, which made him thankful for the lack of light because he was sure his face had reddened.

He closed his eyes and tried not to think of how he wanted her to kiss him again and the same way, and how unlikely that was. Especially after the way he had chosen to react the first time. Unfortunately, trying _not_ to think about it only caused him to think about it more. He was thankful when sleep overtook him.

---

Temari noticed he had fallen asleep and realized that getting her weight off her legs would feel so much better than leaning against the wall. She pushed herself off of it and walked over the sleeping shinobi, then crouched to lie down beside him. She assumed a similar position to how he was laying, only with a more feminine air to it. She wasn't too close to him, but wasn't too far either.

It wasn't long before sleep overtook her as well, and she awoke late the next morning. She saw that Shikamaru was still sleeping beside her, looking the exact same as he had the night before. Judging by where the sun was in the sky, it was almost noon, which meant the remaining teams only had four hours to arrive. She guessed that Shikamaru's team hadn't arrived yet since he was still there and hadn't really moved.

"Wake up you lazy ass," she said, poking him in the ribs. Sure enough, he grunted but didn't open his eyes.

"Don't," he murmured.

"This feels like déjà vu," she said, going to poke him again. He grabbed her hand and sat up, opening his eyes.

"Is my team here yet?" he asked.

"Were you summoned?" her voice held a hidden 'you idiot' beneath.

"No," he groaned. "What time is it?"

"Almost noon," she answered, trying not to blush as she was aware of him still holding her hand. He seemed to be completely oblivious to this fact, but she didn't want to bring it up for two reasons: It would be potentially awkward and he would let go, which she didn't really want him to do. Instead, she took this opportunity to stand up, tightening her grip on his hand in turn to drag him up with her. He groaned but made no objections passed that.

"Ano…" he began, finally noticing their hands and turning away to hide a small blush.

He was saved from having to make the troublesome decision to let go or not when she started pulling him towards the door.

"I'm hungry and this time you're going to eat with me," she said, clearly not about to let go of his hand.

He didn't really mind as long as she was dragging him along, because then he could pretend that they weren't really holding hands. However, when the door in front of them began to open before they had reached it, they both let go so fast that they could no longer deny that they had been doing it.

"Ah, there you are," Anko said, coming through the door. "What are you doing up here? Together… alone…" She lowered her voice to a whisper and below for the last two words, then shrugged it off with her cheeky smile and continued. 'A total of five teams have arrived so far and a couple of them have extra scrolls. There aren't any heaven scrolls left out in the forest, so we're calling in the remaining teams.

"Shikamaru," Anko looked at Shikamaru, "You're responsible for bringing in your team, and Temari," she turned to Temari, "You're going to help him." Without another word, Anko turned and left them on the roof with her orders.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered.

"I bet you wish they'd passed now, don't you?" she teased him. "Well, let's get a move on. I don't want to have to wait too long before I can eat."

Instead of going inside and down the stairs like a normal person, Temari ran and jumped off the tower to land in a tree a little ways off. "Coming?" she called.

"Tch. Troublesome woman," he muttered before jumping after her.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It didn't take long to find his team; they were fairly close to the tower, wandering around without a scroll. It consisted of two boys and a girl. One of the boys was thoroughly fed up that they had lost their scroll, and the girl was fed up at him for being fed up. The other boy seemed to not even care. None of them were severely injured, except for a large gash on the loud boy's right leg, which Temari patched up roughly.

Shikamaru and Temari started to head back to the outskirts of the Forest of Death, Genin team in tow, until they met up with the other failed teams which were also making their way back. Iruka was one of the Chuunin escorting them all, and he allowed Shikamaru and Temari to leave their team with him. He said that one of the teams had been killed and that four people from the teams that had passed, two from one team and the other two from different teams, had dropped out and so preliminary matches weren't necessary.

Shikamaru sighed with relief and broke away from the group, leaving everyone behind except Temari, who followed him.

"Not going back to the tower?" she smirked.

"Nah, too troublesome," she shrugged. "We're closer to the edge of the forest."

"Figures," Temari mumbled.

"Well you can go back if you want," Shikamaru glared at her. "I'm not making you follow me."

"Who said I was following you?" she flashed a grin at him. "How do I know you're not the one following me?"

"Tch." At that simple, little sound, Temari poked him in the side. He grunted and stopped and would have slipped off the branch he was standing on if not for his chakra control. Temari stopped and came back to him, landing on the same branch.

"Why do you keep doing that?" he growled.

"Because it's so easy," she smiled and went to poke both of his sides at once, but he grabbed her wrists to stop her. In this sudden movement, she lost her footing and when she righted herself, she was hardly inches from his face. With him still holding her wrists up by his shoulders, she leaned in towards him. Before they could connect, however, he'd lifted his chin and turned away, letting her go.

"Temari… I can't…" he trailed off and sighed. She scowled at him and turned to jump off the branch they stood on. Before she could, he grabbed her wrist again and spun her back around to face him, cleverly placing his hand around her waist in the process. Their lips were hardly a breath apart now and she could feel his warm breath tickling her nose.

"I can't…" he said again, pausing. Their lips barely touched now, and she felt his next whispering words brush over her mouth…

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Hmm... I wonder what he says. Any ideas? The sooner I hear your opinion, the sooner the next chapter will be up. . Please don't hate me.  
-Atty 


	6. Rumors

Here it is... sorry for the wait... May be a bit 'chopped off' at the end cos i'm in a rush. hope you like it!

* * *

**Rumors**

Temari's heart was beating out of her chest with Shikamaru so close to her and without knowing what he was going to do. She was furious with herself for letting it affect her. He was so close that all she had to do was close her mouth over his. But she couldn't do it. She was waiting for his next whispering words.

"I can't… let a woman make the first move." She felt the smile on his mouth before he finally completed the kiss. She pressed her body more firmly against his and thought she could feel his beating heart. He let go of her wrist to slide his arm around her back and up between her shoulder blades. With both arms free, she wrapped them around his neck and kissed him harder, purposely knocking him off balance so his back hit the tree behind him.

Neither of them knew how long they were there for as the lost themselves in their long awaited and needed embrace. When they finally pulled apart, gasping for breath, they only loosened their hold on each other slightly as they breathed down the other one's neck. After a moment, when Temari could talk without gasping breaths, she grinned and whispered into his ear.

"I hate to break it to you, but I already made the first move you lazy ass."

"That can hardly count as a first move," he whispered back. "It was more like abuse."

"Heh," Temari breathed. "Can't handle it?" She bit his ear playfully, then drew back and brought her hands to his shoulders, smirking at him. His hands rested around her waist, wanting to loose himself with her until the burning desire within him was quenched. Instead he let her go and she took a step back, arms crossed over her chest as she continued to smirk at him.

"Troublesome woman," he muttered, and jumped off the branch in the direction of the edge of the forest. As she came up beside him she poked him in the side. He grunted, but this time he couldn't hide a small smile.

"Stop it," he pleaded. Temari laughed and sped ahead of him.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When they reached the edge of the forest, they came out a little ways off from the entrance to the area. Landing softly on the ground, Shikamaru took on his usual lazy attire, shoving his hands in his pockets and slouching back.

"Come on, you lazy ass," Temari said, heading for the exit. "I still haven't eaten breakfast and it's already way past noon. And it's your fault so you're buying me lunch."

"How is it my fault?" Shikamaru said lazily.

"Because I had to help you go and fetch your Genin."

"But wouldn't that make it their fault?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow as he watched her go. Clearly she didn't care for the details. Shrugging, he followed after her.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After they had left the Forest of Death far behind, and were walking down the streets of Konoha, Temari stopped in her tracks. Shikamaru stopped and turned to her, hands still in his pockets, giving her a face that said 'now what?"

"Where's that barbeque place you took me to a while ago?" she asked. "I'm in the mood for whatever it was that I got the last time."

Shikamaru groaned, knowing there was a chance he'd run into Chouji and his other gossiping friends if he went there at this time of day.

"Can't you pick some place else?" he breathed.

"Why?" she teased. "Don't want people you know to see us together?"

"We're hardly together," Shikamaru said, noting that neither had made an attempt to hold hands or do anything else couples would do in public. His reasons were simple: the rumors would be troublesome and he didn't want it to get back to her brothers that she was with a 'lazy ass' like him. He didn't get the feeling that Kankurou and Gaara liked him all that much.

"Then I guess it doesn't matter if we go there or not," Temari smirked and headed down a street that looked familiar. When Shikamaru still gave no attempt to show her where it was, she stopped to ask someone for directions, which they gladly gave. When she finally found the restaurant, with Shikamaru in tow, she turned to give him a wry smile before walking in.

They were once again bombarded with the thick, smoky smell. There was less noise than the last time, but Shikamaru tried to remain out of sight from his friends he saw at the end of the row of booths.

"Temari!" Sakura called out, when she saw Temari ordering food before picking a table. Temari smiled and waved, then went over to her once she had figured out and ordered what she had eaten the last time.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura asked as Temari slide in beside her. "I thought the exams didn't end until four." Ino was on Sakura's other side against the window, and Chouji sat across from her, eating sizzling barbeque off the grill. Someone Temari had seen walking around with a big white dog sat between Chouji and the window, but she couldn't remember his name.

"They ended early because no more teams would be able to pass," Temari said. "But I'm here with Shikamaru." Temari stuck her head out of the booth and looked around for him, realizing he hadn't followed.

"Shikamaru?" Sakura and Ino asked at the same time. Sakura was smiling and looking around as well. Ino was frowning.

"There he is," Sakura pointed to Shikamaru, who was leaning in the corner, hidden by the shadows.

"Tch, troublesome," Shikamaru muttered, pushing himself off the wall with his shoulders and heading over. He sat down beside Chouji with a scowl on his face. Temari kicked him under the table and when he looked at her she grinned in a way that said 'lighten up'.

"Hey Shikamaru!" Ino said, a little too friendly. "How did the exam go?"

"A little troublesome at the beginning and end," Shikamaru sighed, ignoring her obvious flirting. "But it wasn't too bad in between."

"Yeah, he spent the whole time watching clouds," Temari smirked as a waiter brought over their food order.

"Yup, that sounds like Shikamaru alright," Chouji said through his mouthful.

"Are you sure that's _all_ you did?" asked the boy by the window with a knowing grin.

Shikamaru sighed. "Well, you know, there's eating and sleeping," he said casually, taking a bite of his food.

"Really?" the boy went on, "Because I heard from Anko that you and Temari spent a lot of time up on the roof together. _Alone_."

Shikamaru nearly choked and he could see Temari was blushing, which she covered up with anger.

"She said what?" she shot at him. "And you believed her? Who the hell are you to be spreading rumors anyway?"

"That's Kiba," Sakura said, laughing nervously. "Don't mind him. He likes to get on peoples nerves."

"It's true though," Kiba went on. "They were hanging out on the roof when Anko went to go tell them that they were ending the exam early. Apparently they'd been up there all night. Isn't that right, Shikamaru?"

"Nothing happened," Shikamaru groaned and ignored the stares that were shot at him by Sakura, Ino and Chouji. Sakura's stare was a surprised happy, Ino's was a surprised angry, and Chouji's was just a surprise.

"You mean you actually were?" Sakura asked, turning to Temari. Shikamaru continued to ignore her.

"When did she even tell you that?" he asked Kiba. "I thought she was still at the tower."

"Apparently there's a shortcut in and out of the forest that only she knows about," Kiba grinned. "And she told me about you and Temari a few hours ago."

"Yeah?" Temari smirked. "And how much did you pay her for all that information? Or did you just do her a _favor_?" No one missed what Temari had implied by 'favor,' but none of them thought anything of it, knowing it was just her way of getting back at him.

"Hmph," was Kiba's only answer, as continued to eat his food. Once that topic had passed, Sakura and Ino got into a conversation about girl stuff that Temari wasn't really interested in. Kiba ate his food, defeated, and Chouji continued to eat contentedly. Shikamaru ate his in silence with his head in one hand and chopsticks in the other, apparently deep in thought, and so Temari took the opportunity to catch him off guard.

She slipped her foot out of her shoe and used it to run down his leg. She smirked when she instantly saw his reaction, though he pretended nothing had happened and continued to stare at his food. No one else was paying attention so she did it again, slower this time, and brought her foot back up and tried to slide it between his legs to where she was sure he had reacted. She paused with her foot at his thigh and he glanced up at her. His eyes were clearly telling her to stop. Before pulling away, she stretched her foot out to her goal to slide down it once – to which he reacted with a sudden twitch– and she grinned as she put her foot back into her shoe.

Temari sighed in a way that said 'you're no fun' that only Shikamaru could notice. She then stood up and excused herself as she went to the bathroom.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So Shikamaru," Kiba said as soon as Temari reached the bathroom. "How far did you get with her?" Shikamaru noticed as Sakura aimed a kick a Kiba, and Chouji grunted as she grazed him as well.

"Sorry, Chouji," she muttered, and then turned to Shikamaru as if waiting for the answer to Kiba's question. Ino merely looked out the window pretending not to care. Shikamaru finished the last bit of his food and excused himself as he got up to pay. He paid for Temari's as well, and when she came back out of the bathroom he was waiting at the door.

"I've paid," he said calmly. "Are you going to stay here?"

"Stay here with a fatty that would rather eat than talk, two gossip girls, one of which that hates me, and a rumor spreading jerk?" Temari mused. "Yeah right," and she shoved passed him to the streets outside.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Hope no one was too OOC or anything.  
-Atty 


	7. Nara's House Guest

Hey! Sorry it took longer than usual... My computer got fried... Motherboard is completely wrecked... So I've been using my dad's and I lack inspiration when I'm not on my own computer in my own room. Anyway, I hope you like it!

* * *

**Nara's House Guest**

Shikamaru and Temari wandered aimlessly through the busy streets of Konoha. There was a loud buzz of conversation and a couple people had bumped into them as they passed by in a rush. Shikamaru had merely kept walking, but Temari yelled threats after them. It was then that she realized the lack of weight strapped to her back. She groaned, realizing she had left her fan and rucksack back at the tower.

_As if I've been so flustered all day that I didn't even notice_, she thought.

"So," Shikamaru said, taking a turn down a quieter street. "When are you leaving?"

"What do you mean?" Temari smirked at him. "Trying to get rid of me already?"

"Tch. Troublesome," he muttered. "No, I was just asking because the next part of the exams doesn't start for another month. And I know you won't stay that long."

"Oh, right," Temari grinned. "Well I guess I'll have to get out of here as soon as possible." Shikamaru shrugged and she continued. "Actually, I'll probably stay a couple of nights first to rest up in a bed that's not as hard as a stone."

"Then I guess we have to go see the Godaime," Shikamaru sighed.

"Why?"

"Well she hasn't exactly arranged anywhere for you to stay this time. She probably figured you'd take off at the first chance you got."

"Alright, then lets hurry. I want to get off my feet," Temari said, stopping and taking one out of her shoe to rub it as if to emphasize how much they were hurting. She then stood up straight, putting her foot back into her shoe, and headed in the direction of the Hokage's mansion.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You're staying?" said the fifth in bewilderment. "But I would have thought that you would be out of here as soon as possible." Shikamaru smirked behind Temari and made a noise to say 'I told you so.' "Especially since you and Shikamaru don't get along…"

"Actually, I found he's not that bad," Temari grinned wryly. "He has his moments."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at the two of them as they exchanged some sort of insider. "In that case," she said, "Due to the fact that we don't have anything ready or available for you…" she trailed off and looked at Shikamaru. "Shikamaru? Do you have a spare bedroom at your house?"

"Huh?" Shikamaru stared at her. "No, I don't."

Tsunade sighed. "That's too bad. I guess you'll be sleeping on the couch for the next few nights."

"Huh?" Shikamaru actually stood up straight in surprise. "But—"

"No buts," Tsunade said as Temari tried to hide a smile. "Temari will be using your room until she feels she's ready to go home and you will _gladly_ oblige."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru groaned.

"What was that?" Tsunade narrowed her eyes at him.

Shikamaru let out an exaggerated sigh before walking out of the room.

"Ano," Temari paused before following after him. "I've forgotten my weapons and other possessions at the tower in the Forest of Death. I was wondering if I could have someone bring them back for me."

"Hai, hai," Tsunade sighed. "I'll get Anko to do it." She waved her off, leaning on the desk with an elbow.

Temari thanked her with a short bow before leaving the room. When the door shut behind the two of them, Tsunade leaned back in her chair and took the sake out of the desk drawer that she had shoved it in when she had heard the knock at her door. She sipped it contentedly, smiling to herself for how she had gotten out of finding sleeping arrangements for Temari so easily.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Shikamaru reached his house with Temari, she looked around to take in the front of his house and the surrounding ones. There was no one around.

"It's so quiet," Temari said. "I'm surprised you don't come home more often being a lazy ass like yourself."

"Heh," Shikamaru said, unlocking the front door. "There's a good reason I don't come home." They had barely gotten in the front door and taken off their shoes when a woman's voice came through a nearby room. Temari recognized the voice as the woman who had told her she could find Shikamaru in his room the day she had pushed him down the stairs. They hadn't exchanged any words passed that because the woman had left Temari standing in the doorway as she rushed off to continue what she had been doing.

"Shikamaru? Is that you?"

"Ah," he called to her.

"You're home early," the woman called back, and there was the sound of a pot being put on a stove before the voice grew louder as it came towards them. "That's good; it means you can clean your room before supper—"

She broke off as she entered the room, wearing an apron with a wet, brown stain on it, and saw Temari. "Oh, you brought a friend home! Shikamaru why didn't you tell me sooner? Well at least I know to make more for supper now."

"Mom," Shikamaru cut in before she could continue. "Tsunade has requested that Temari stay here for a couple of nights." He paused to sigh. "And she requested that it be in my room since we don't have a spare."

"Temari?" her eyes widened. "You mean the girl from Suna?"

"You've heard of me?" Temari smirked. "I hope it wasn't anything bad."

"Oh no, not at all," she laughed. "I'm Yoshino by the way. Sorry I was so passive the last time you stopped by. You're welcome to make yourself at home." Temari raised her eyebrows as she watched Yoshino go back into the kitchen.

"Nothing bad, huh?" Temari said, turning to Shikamaru. "Now, I wonder why I find that so hard to believe."

"Tch. Troublesome woman," Shikamaru said, heading for the staircase.

"Well at least now I know why you don't come home very often," Temari grinned, following after him. "It seems you don't run short of 'troublesome woman' in your life." Shikamaru didn't answer as he reached the hallway upstairs and took a right. Two doors down on what was now their left, Shikamaru turned the handle to walk in.

"You'll be sleeping here," he said lazily. "The bathroom is the other door we passed on this side of the hall. Sorry about the mess. It's troublesome, but if you want I can tidy up a bit."

Temari looked around the room. There was a single bed, closet, bedside table and a small desk with a chair. Random games like Shougi and Go were strewn across the desk with most of the pieces lying across the wrong board or box. A few had escaped to the floor, and some were hidden under thrown shirts and pants. A pair of boxers was peeking out from under the bed and a dirty glass and plate were on the bedside table.

"Just when I though you couldn't be any more of a lazy ass, I find out your messy as well," she teased, going over to sit on the edge of the bed. She let out a sigh of relief on the soft mattress, and lay backwards with her feet still hanging over the edge.

Shikamaru brought his hand up to rub the back of his neck. He tried to find something to look at other than Temari. He could feel the burning desire from earlier in the forest washing over him again. "Ano… supper will be ready in about an hour or so," he said. As he looked around the room, his eyes rested on his shougi board. Temari pushed herself up to rest her weight on her elbows so she could see him.

"We could start a game of that to pass the time," she suggested, noticing his gaze upon the board.

"Huh?" he looked at her and smirked. "You think you can beat me?"

"No," she sighed. "But it'll be fun to try."

He shrugged and gathered up all the pieces. Checking to make sure he had them all, he glanced around once more and found a stray piece on the floor. He walked over and sat on the bed by the pillows. Temari pulled her legs up and turned to face him as he laid out the board and handed her a set of pieces. She rested her weight on one arm, and Shikamaru sat with one knee bent up in front of his chest. Once they had set it up, Shikamaru let her go first, and they soon found themselves lost in silence as they concentrated on the game.

They were interrupted once when Yoshino came upstairs with Temari's rucksack, saying Anko had just dropped it off. She also said that Temari's fan was downstairs because she was unable to pick it up, let alone carry it up a flight of steps. Before leaving Shikamaru's room, she uttered a quick reminder that supper would be soon, and then she shut the door softly behind her.

After forty-five minutes of shougi, Shikamaru won.

"Well, I have to admit that you know how to play," he sighed, gathering up the pieces. As he took the time to actually put the pieces in the box and the box back on the desk, Temari stood up and stretched to get the feeling back into her legs.

"Do you mind if I have a quick shower before supper?" she asked, picking up her rucksack and setting it on the bed so she could look through it.

Shikamaru shrugged. "Go ahead."

"Well can you grab me a towel or something, or is that too much work for you?" she teased, taking a few shower items out of her rucksack.

"The towels are in the bottom drawer in the bathroom," he sighed. "Just take your pick."

"Lazy ass," she muttered as she left his room.

Five minutes after he heard the shower start running while he was lying on his bed, he heard Temari call him from the adjacent room. He stood up with a groan and left his room to go to the bathroom door.

"What do you want?" he called through the door.

"I forgot my razor in my rucksack," she called back. "Could you get it for me?"

"Tch. Troublesome," he muttered, walking back to his room without a response. He picked up her bag and looked through it, trying not to invade on her stuff, which was rather hard. He gave up quickly and went back to the bathroom. Not wanting to yell anymore, he decided to just go in since she was expecting him to bring it anyway.

"I can't find it," he said as he was engulfed by the smell of shampoo and soap threw the thin fog. She stood on her tiptoes to look over the top of the frosted glass of the shower. The glass wasn't very high and it was about a half a foot from the ground as well.

"But I'm sure I brought it," she eyed him accusingly. "Look harder."

"It's not in it, okay?" he said. "If you don't want to wait then just use mine." She rolled her eyes at him and huffed, standing back on her feet. Her hand reached over the top of the shower.

"Let's have it then," she said. He sighed and got it from the sink to hand to her. After her hand disappeared back into the shower, he turned to the sink to rinse his face with cold water.

"Oh," he said, drying his face. "The blade is new so be careful." As he said it, he heard her suck in a breath and could just make out her holding one of her ankles through the disorienting glass.

"Yeah," she said, putting her foot back down. "Thanks for the warning."

He could see blood already running down her ankle and, mixing with the water, it had forked in different directions. He groaned. "How did you manage that?" he sighed, watching the blood wash away as more came. "You're bleeding so much you might as well have cut off your foot!"

"Just shut up and get me a Band-Aid or something!" she hissed. "The water is making it sting more than it should."

He sighed again and opened the top drawer to get a Band-Aid. Glancing back at the shower, she had put her bleeding ankle near the edge or the glass, clearly wanting him to do it for her. He groaned grabbing a tissue so he could wipe it off.

"Quite whining," she said at his groan. "My hands are wet so I can't do it very easily. Plus, it was your razor that did it so it's your fault."

"Troublesome woman," he muttered, crouching down to reach her foot.

"It looks like you grated yourself more than cut!" he said as he dabbed away the mess. He put on the Band-Aid as he tried desperately to no think of the fact that she was naked right beside him, with water running down her body, and all he had to do was open the shower door…

He scowled and stood up, quickly leaving the bathroom as she thanked him. He got back to his room and lay down on his bed, letting out a deep breath as he attempted unsuccessfully to erase any thoughts of Temari in a shower.

He stood up and started putting away the board games to distract himself. He then went on to kick all of the clothes on his floor into a corner and then grabbed the dirty glass and plate off of his bedside table to bring downstairs.

"Supers almost ready," his mom said as he walked into the kitchen. "You actually did something to clean your room?" His mom teased him as she noticed his glass and plate while she worked over the stove. "Wow, she must be a pretty special friend for you to do that."

"Tch."

"Don't 'tch' me, Shikamaru," Yoshino continued. "Besides, I thought you found Temari 'troublesome.' Changed your mind, have you?"

"Temari?" Shikamaru heard his dad enter the kitchen behind him. "You mean that 'troublesome woman' from Suna?"

"Ah," Yoshino said. "Tsunade-sama has requested that she stay here a couple of nights, so she's staying is Shikamaru's room."

"Really," Shikaku said, raising his eyes at Shikamaru. "In your room?" He nudged Shikamaru playfully to which Shikamaru scowled.

"Shouldn't you be washing up for supper?" Yoshino shot at Shikaku. Shikamaru took this moment to leave the kitchen before his parents got into an argument.

As he headed upstairs and passed the bathroom, he didn't notice that the shower had stopped, nor did he notice that his bedroom door – which he had left open – was now closed. So he didn't think anything of it as he reached his door and opened it to go in.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** You know, for an IQ of 200, you'd think he'd of figured it out. But then there wouldn't be a cliffhanger would there? . tee hee. Anyway, reviews are always loved and are definitley a motivation! til next time,  
-Atty 


	8. Gossip

Good news! I gotta new computer and my dad was able to add my old hardrives into it so I didn't loose anything I'd written. . Alright this is the best I can do so this is what you're gonna get. They're probably OOC but I find that they're too one-dimensional to not make them OOC everynow and then. Hope you like it!

* * *

**Gossip**

Shikamaru had hardly opened the door when he heard a short scream of surprise and saw a pillow coming towards his face. He held his arms up to block it and turned and closed his eyes as an instinct of protection.

"Get out, you pervert!" Temari yelled at him. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"What the h—" Shikamaru said as he turned to face her and stopped as he saw her frantically wrapping a towel back around her body. He instantly felt his face heat up and saw that hers was red as well. He barely had time to think before she chucked a shampoo bottle at his head, which he managed to block. She chucked another bottle – body wash – as he stepped back out of the room and he just managed to shut the door as he heard it connect loudly with the wood.

"Shikamaru?" he heard his mom call. "What's going on? Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," he called back as he leaned against the wall beside his door. He breathed heavily as he willed his face to cool down, and then slid to the floor and sat with his knees bent and his head back against the wall. He closed his eyes, not bothering to try to forget the short glimpse he had of her before she managed to pull the towel back over herself.

A few minutes later, his mom called up to say that supper was ready.

"We'll be right there," Shikamaru called down to her as his bedroom door finally opened beside him. Temari stood in his door frame and he risked a quick glance up at her. She was frowning, but fully dressed. He stood up with a groan and rubbed the back of his neck without looking at her.

"Ano," he said, noting her arms folded angrily against her chest. He turned to her. "Sorry—"

_Slap!_ The words had barely escaped his mouth when he found his head turned away again with a sharp stinging in his cheek.

"Baka," she hissed, then stepped passed him and walked downstairs. He stood there a moment longer, rubbing his sore cheek with his hand.

_I guess I should be thankful that she didn't have her fan,_ he thought before heading downstairs.

He was the last one to reach the table, and he sat down in his usual spot. Temari, who sat across from him, was refusing to look at him, but was instead complimenting Yoshino on how good it all looked. Yoshino sat on the side between Shikamaru and Temari on Shikamaru's left, and his father was across from her on his right. Once they had filled their plates, they muttered 'itadakimasu' together before digging in.

Yoshino asked Temari various questions about Suna, unaware of the tension between her and Shikamaru. Shikaku, however, wasn't as blind.

"Hey, Shikamaru," he leaned over to whisper. "What did you do to her? Walk in on her while she was changing?" he teased.

Shikamaru scowled but didn't answer as he felt a small blush creeping over his face again. Shikaku's eyes widened.

"Did you?"

"It was an accident," Shikamaru said under his breath as he continued to scowl.

Shikaku laughed. "And I was only kidding about it."

"Tch. Troublesome."

"Shikamaru?" Yoshino said, unknowingly saving him from the conversation. "I've already brought down some blankets and pillows for you to set up on the couch.

"Thanks," he muttered, finishing up his food. He helped himself to seconds as his mother got into a conversation with his father. He knew better than to interrupt such conversations.

He glanced up at Temari and caught her looking as well. He gave her what he hoped was a sorry look before going back to his food. Once they had all finished eating, his father was the first to leave the table. Shikamaru got up and went to leave the kitchen. He turned to see if Temari was following and found that she was helping his mother clean up. He groaned and went back to the table to clean up his own plate and glass. Yoshino finally thanked Temari for her help and said she could handle the rest herself.

Shikamaru left the kitchen first and was already heading upstairs when Temari came out of the kitchen after him. He reached his bedroom and left the door wide open, taking off his Chuunin vest and jacket and throwing them on top of the pile of clothes in the corner. He turned back to the door and found Temari leaning against it, watching him.

Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck and looked away in an attempt to escape the awkward situation.

"Let's go for a walk," Temari said, turning to leave the room.

"Temari," Shikamaru said and she stopped for a moment. "Ano… I didn't mean anything by it."

"By what?" she asked innocently, and she left down the hall.

"Tch, troublesome," he muttered, grabbing his jacket back off the floor and following after her.

They reached the front door and slipped on their shoes. Temari grabbed her fan and strapped it to her back, grinning wickedly at Shikamaru when she did. He tried to ignore it and stepped outside.

"Shouldn't you let your mom know you're going out?" she asked.

"No," he sighed. "She'll ask too many troublesome questions. Besides, I leave the house all the time without telling her."

"Well, aren't you responsible?" she teased.

"Hmph." Shikamaru stuffed his hands into his pockets and followed after Temari. They had soon wandered into town and the sudden change from the dark, quiet back roads into the bright, busy streets made Shikamaru recoil, wanting to turn back and go home. Night had fallen and so many bright and colorful lights lit up the different restaurants and stores all throughout the street. At seven o'clock, many people were still up and walking around. Temari had a content smile on her face that made Shikamaru wary.

_There's no way she'd let me off that easy after what I did,_ he thought, _Even if it was an accident. Troublesome woman. Oh no._ He stopped in his tracks as he spotted purple hair up ahead and a face with a cheeky grin talking to someone.

"Ano, Temari," he said. "Let's go some place else."

"Why?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder at him.

'Ano—"

"Hey, look! There's Anko," Temari smiled and called out to her. "Anko!" Shikamaru groaned when Anko saw them and headed over.

"Hey, you two lovebirds," Anko grinned cheekily. "So you're staying over at Shikamaru's?"

'Ah," Temari sighed. "He practically begged Tsunade to let me lodge at his place instead of finding me somewhere else."

"Really?" Anko raised her eyebrows. Temari leaned over and whispered something in her ear to which Anko raised her eyebrows even higher and smiled. Shikamaru watched the whole thing, dreading whatever Temari was up to.

"I guess the whole lazy thing is just a cover-up, eh?" Anko said, resuming her cheeky smile. Temari laughed and said good bye, letting Anko leave to go and spread whatever she had just told her.

"What did you tell her?" Shikamaru asked, cursing himself for caring.

"Nothing," she shrugged and kept walking. He groaned and followed after her, not looking forward to whoever else he might walk into. Ten minutes later, they reached the street with the Ichiraku Ramen shop on the end. As they got closer, he saw Naruto leaving it with Kiba.

"Oi! Shikamaru!" Naruto called out when he saw them. Shikamaru tried to look as lazy and unbothered as possible and he and Temari reached them. Before Shikamaru had a chance to keep away from topics that involved him and Temari, Kiba spoke.

"So, Temari," he said. "I hear you're staying over at Shikamaru's for a couple nights."

Naruto instantly smiled and looked back and forth between them. "Ano sa, ano sa! Are you two dating now?"

"No," Shikamaru groaned. Temari laughed. Shikamaru scowled at her.

"Actually," Kiba said, grinning wickedly. "I heard that Shikamaru practically threw himself at you," he smirked, looking at Temari, then turning to Shikamaru. "I didn't know you had it in you."

"What are you talking about?" Shikamaru continued to scowl. He looked at Temari and saw her smiling in a way that reminded him of Anko.

"Anko told me," Kiba said.

Shikamaru glared at Temari. "News travels fast, huh?" he muttered.

"What was that?" Kiba asked.

"Nothing," Shikamaru said, walking passed him and turning down the next street. Temari had soon caught up to him, still smiling wickedly.

"What's the matter?" she asked innocently. He ignored her and quickened pace. "Oh, come on," she said, matching his stride. "It was just for fun."

"Well wouldn't it be nice if your brothers found out that I tried to force myself on you?" he spat at her.

"That was kind of the point," she grinned. "Payback's a bitch."

Shikamaru stopped and turned to her. "Look, I said I was sorry."

"I know," she sighed. "But that doesn't change what you saw."

"I didn't see anything," he scowled.

"Uh huh." Temari turned away from him and continued walking down the street.

"Tch. Troublesome." He followed behind her and soon found that she had led them to the park. She walked over to the hill and sat down, laying her giant fan beside her, ready to use. She sat back, supporting her weight on her hands as Shikamaru sighed and sat down beside her, silently lying back with his hands behind his head to look up at the stars.

They stayed like that for what seemed like forever until Temari's arms finally gave out and she lay down as well. Her hands were folded over her stomach and she turned her head to look at Shikamaru. He was still watching the sky and seemed determined to not look at her. She sighed and looked up at the sky herself, and they entered another long period of time without any sound or movement.

When Temari found her eyes getting heavy, she relaxed them and let them close. One of her hands slid down and she rested her arm between herself and Shikamaru. Her eyes had hardly been closed for two minutes before she heard Shikamaru shift beside her and felt his hand over hers. She smiled and closed her fingers around his.

When sleep was finally overtaking her, she decided it would be better if they headed back to the Nara's house. Shikamaru seemed to be thinking the same thing, for he sat up straight, and then stood and pulled her up with him, still holding onto her hand. As they headed back to his house, Temari felt a sudden extreme tiredness and decided it wouldn't hurt to lean her head on Shikamaru's shoulder as they walked.

They never noticed a shape in the shadows watching them maliciously as they passed, and so Temari certainly never expected the news of her and Shikamaru to reach Suna before she did.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Any suggestions? I'm willing to change what doesn't sound right. And I'm very tired. And very busy off late so give me a break lol. It'll turn out good, I swear. (I hope). Reviews are always loved.  
-Atty 


	9. Conflicting Feelings

Well first off, I'd just like to tell all of you that it was brought to my attention that I needed to elaborate more on Shikamaru and Temari's feelings towards each other. So, I updated the _Chuunin Exam_ chapter so that the first few paragraphs are now an inside look on how they were feeling. I had meant to add it before because I had already written it; I had just forgotten to add it. . So, if you're interested, go to the _Chuunin Exam_ chapter now and read up until they get to the Genin and you'll have read all that I added.

That said I'd like to thank the reviewer, _Pokemon Fan,_ who said I should elaborate on their feelings.

Sorry it took me so long guys! I went away for three days and got back today (and my computer died again so I lost what I was working on and am stuck on my dad's computer) so I was determined to write a chapter before I went to bed. I was going to write it longer but I don't think it'll turn out too good since I'm currently in the mood of writing thoughts not of writing actual events. I hope it's a good one! And, on another note, I dedicate this super late entry to Temari because it's her birthday (August 23rd).

* * *

**Conflicting Feelings**

When they got back to Shikamaru's house, they slipped in quietly and took off their shoes. Only a few lights remained on and it was apparent that his parents had gone to bed. Shikamaru and Temari crept up the stairs together and to his room, where Shikamaru threw his jacket into the corner and went into his closet for some night clothes. He came back out and saw Temari was still standing by the door, looking more tired and fragile than he ever thought possible. Though he supposed she'd be ready to fight in an instant.

He rubbed the back of his neck and looked out the window in an attempt to escape the awkward situation. He had decided to take her hand back at the park because he wanted to know if she felt something between them or if she wasn't taking any of it seriously. When she hadn't pulled away and held onto his hand he had decided that maybe she did care and felt even more secure with this decision when she had leaned on him in fatigue as they walked. Now he had started to rethink everything and was, once again, unsure.

Temari seemed to sense something in his thoughts and she walked over to him. She kissed him softly on the lips to which he didn't pull away. He found it so less troublesome when he didn't try to restrain himself from these moments.

"You know," she whispered, leaning back. "I feel really bad about making you sleep on that couch."

"Tch, there's no way I'm going to make you sleep on it," he said lazily.

"I wasn't offering to sleep on the couch," she smirked. "I was only offering you a spot on your bed."

He watched her carefully and groaned with realization. "No way," he breathed. "Especially not with my mom in the same building and definitely not when she's just down the hall. Do you know what she would do to me?"

"Heh," Temari smirked. "I don't know what you're talking about." She turned away as she whispered her words and picked up her rucksack to take out sleeping clothes. She looked over her shoulder to seem him still standing there, smirking back. "What do you want, pervert?"

He winced at those chosen words. "Don't flatter yourself," he yawned. "I was just leaving." He turned and walked out of his room, shutting the door softly behind him, and then headed downstairs. He threw down the nightclothes he was still holding onto the couch and stripped off his shirt and pants so he could change. He had only grabbed some comfortable pants, so his chest was bare. He pulled out his hair tie and let his hair fall to just above his shoulders, then grabbed a pillow and blanket and flopped onto the couch. He lay there silently for a minute before shifting into a more comfortable position. He did it again a few minutes later. He shifted again and again until he finally gave up and sighed.

"Tch." _Troublesome,_ he thought. He could lie to himself and say that the couch wasn't comfy and that he needed his own bed to sleep, but in truth he knew he couldn't sleep and wanted his bed for an entirely different reason.

Temari kept running through his head and every time he managed to distract himself with something else, he would always find his mind back on her. She was like a disease rotting him from the deepest, darkest place in his mind, slowly moving out towards the surface. His thoughts had become consumed by her; the way she moved, talked and, on the rare occasion, laughed; the way she smirked at him and pretend he was a pest even though she never walked away; and the way she would poke him in the side to try and make him laugh, though never succeeding.

The way she kissed him and the way she tasted and the way she smelled. And the way she racked at his hormones and put suggestive thoughts into his head, intentionally or not.

What he would have once thought of as troublesome had now become too troublesome to _not_ do because restraining himself took such a great effort. And the worst part was that, even though a few stolen kisses every now and then wouldn't do much damage, he knew nothing else could happen between them. Not only was she from another village, but she was the sister of a Kage, which made her too important to be able to leave her village whenever she pleased just to go and visit him. And he wasn't even sure if she would want to.

He wasn't sure if this was just a game of cat and mouse to her. He hated that he didn't know if she really felt something between them or if this was just her way of feeling empowered by making a man loose control, whether the loss of that control was good or bad. He wondered if she felt she had won every time she kissed him and he didn't pull away, and he kissed her back.

He wondered if she felt she had lost tonight when he had used the excuse of being in the same building as his mother, and then he wondered if she had just shrugged it off or if she had been hurt. All he knew was that it had been hard for him to walk away and that it was even harder to not know what would happen between them.

He was finally admitting to himself that his growing hate and irritation towards her over the past year had, in fact, been a cover-up. He had begun to feel vulnerable whenever he went out of his way for her, like getting up early to see her off. And so he had masked it with malice and impatience. And she had merely responded accordingly.

Now he had another chance – a better chance – to show her he didn't truly hate her. But he had no idea of how he could do that if they couldn't become more. In the end, a heart would break and they would have to resume their hate. And though he was positive of the broken heart, he would never admit it. He would never say it.

Because he still didn't know if Temari felt the same.

---

After Temari and changed into something that would make sleeping more comfortable, she pulled up the blanket on the bed so that she could slide in under the covers. There was immediate warmth and comfort, and she silently wished her own bed back home could be the same.

As she stared up at the ceiling, the tiredness she had felt back at the park and the whole way back to Shikamaru's house was now replaced by sudden alertness and distracting thoughts. As she had stood in the doorway and watched him get a change of clothes, her mind had raced as she decided whether or not to go for it. She had. She had kissed him and asked and he had so easily refused. It made her feel vulnerable and she wondered if she had done something wrong.

Was she too loud, too bossy, too forward? Was she not pretty enough for him? Could that be it? Was it that her little joke from before completely turned him off? She had worried about this until he had slipped his hand down to hers back at the park. She thought it was his way of saying 'I forgive you.' But now she wondered if it had been a test and she had failed; failed by trying to go a step further.

Maybe whenever she kissed him he just thought it would be too troublesome to pull away and make her mad at him, and so he just let her. It was almost as if he took every chance he could to get away before he was forced into something more.

But he had kissed her in the forest after he had pulled away, so he shouldn't find it too troublesome to do so every other time. Or maybe it was because once he had turned her down he thought things would become troublesome if he didn't fix it right away.

She hated feeling this way because she so badly wanted him to want her. She had experienced crushes before back in Suna, but she had never felt like this. It felt like her whole world depended on what would happen between them and she feared that they would be forced to hate each other again for whatever Shikamaru's reasons were for turning her away.

She refused to let that happen, even if it meant they could only be friends. Because she could admit to herself how she felt and, now that she had, she could never deal with him hating her again. Though she may never say it out loud, she could admit it to herself. This was definitely more than a crush.

She just wanted Shikamaru to feel the same.

She tried to think of something else, anything, so that she could sleep. She turned onto her side and drew her legs closer to her for warmth, realizing that a familiar smell, a smell that she loved, was making her change of thoughts impossible. The pillow beneath her head and the blankets gathered around her smelt of Shikamaru; that clean, inviting, warm smell that was distinctly male, and even more distinctly Shikamaru. It was comforting, but at the same time it made her worry with a possible regret that it would be one of the few times she could be so close to this smell.

If it hadn't been for such a soft bed and the fact that, despite what her mind believed, she really was tired; her thoughts would have never let her fall asleep.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Okay, so even though this one is kind of short, but I guess rather important. I'd love it if I could get some imput on this particular chapter. Nothing big, just a general feeling of it. Thanks for reading everything so far, though! The next update shouldn't take as long as this one did. 

-Atty


	10. Searching

Sorry it took so long again . ...

* * *

**Searching**

When Temari woke up, she didn't get that normal feeling of forgetting where she was whenever she was away from home. No, this time she remembered exactly where she was. And she knew why: the smell.

_I have to get out of here,_ she thought. _I can't let this go on between us. If he really wanted me he'd come find me if I left._ She sat up and pushed back the covers. _Yes, I'll leave before he knows I'm awake._ She slid out of the bed and straightened the covers before changing out of her sleeping clothes.

She stuffed everything back into her rucksack that wasn't already in it and went to the bedroom door and opened it quietly. She looked both ways down the hall and saw no one so she crept to the bathroom; it was early so she didn't think being noisy was a good idea. After freshening up, she went back to the hall and snuck quietly downstairs. She could see Shikamaru splayed shirtless on the couch with his blanket all screwed up and the pillow on the floor. She smirked at the sight and got an urge to poke him in the side to see his reaction, but then she chastised herself for it and continued to the front door.

She slipped into her shoes and then strapped her fan to her back before heading outside. Breathing in the cold but fresh morning air, she head down the street and rounded a corner, leaving the Nara's household behind.

---

Shikamaru woke with a crick in his neck to the smell of cooking bacon. He shifted and sat up on the couch, rubbing his face with his hands. After a few minutes of sitting there, he remembered why he was sleeping on the couch. He groaned and stood up, heading for the kitchen.

His mom was over a frying pan making bacon and eggs. She looked up when he entered. "Good morning, Shikamaru," she said. "Did you sleep well?"

"No," he yawned. "Is Temari up yet?"

"She's left."

"Left?" Shikamaru started in surprise.

"Ah, she was gone when I woke up," his mother said as she turned back to the stove top. "I'm not sure if she's coming back later or not though. Did she say anything about going home early?"

"No," Shikamaru turned away to stare out the window while he rubbed the back of his neck. "She said she was going to stay another night."

"Did she? Well she'll probably be back in a bit then."

"Who knows?" Shikamaru sighed grabbing a seat at the table as his mom put breakfast on a plate for him.

---

Temari sat at a bar similar to that of the Ichiraku Ramen Shop, eating a random breakfast that she had chosen off the menu. She sighed to herself, thinking about what would happen with Shikamaru. Her thoughts from last night had left her believing that Shikamaru didn't necessarily want to be with her just because he would kiss her back whenever she made a move. She wanted to know how he really felt, and she was hoping that he would come looking for her and maybe even make some sort of move to show that he was interested.

She hated feeling this way about someone. She felt so vulnerable. She felt like everything right now depended on what Shikamaru did next.

"Hey Temari, how's it going?" Sakura asked with her usual smile.

"Oh, hey Sakura," Temari returned the smile half-heartedly.

"Why aren't you with Shikamaru?" Sakura asked.

"What do you mean?" Temari was a little startled by the question.

"Didn't you stay over at his house last night?"

"Wow, news really does travel fast," Temari muttered. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Well I just thought that you'd of had breakfast at his place," Sakura took a moment to order something before turning back to Temari. "His mom makes really good breakfast."

"Oh, well I woke up early and no one else was up so I decided to leave," Temari said after a mouthful.

"Without even telling anyone?" Sakura asked a bit surprised.

"Well it's not like they're going to think I'm kidnapped," Temari sighed. "They won't really care."

"What about Shikamaru?" Sakura asked.

"What about him?"

"Well, are you going back later?"

"Yeah, probably tonight; I wanted to stay one last night before I head back home." Temari finished up her breakfast and paid for it before standing up to leave. "Ja, ne!" she said before leaving the shop.

---

Shikamaru sighed as he slipped on his shoes and left the house. _Troublesome woman_, he thought as his mind fell back to the conversation with his mother after breakfast. The prospect of having to go and look for Temari had at first seemed troublesome, but after his mother had started an argument with him about it, he realized it was far less troublesome than arguing about it with his mother. It seemed his mother wanted to be sure on if and when Temari would be back so she knew about meals.

Shikamaru was now walking down a busy street, glancing around lazily for any sign of troublesome woman number two. His hands were in his pockets as usual and he was sure that the fact that he would rather be somewhere else was reflecting on his face. He had finally managed to fall asleep last night, despite his troublesome thoughts, but now he was free to think of them again. It seemed that word was showing up even more this morning than usual. He supposed it had something to do with the fact that he was actually worried about how things would turn out with him and Temari – though he would never admit it. He had never felt the urges and needs he felt around Temari before he had met her.

He spotted Sakura heading down the street in his direction, though she hadn't noticed him yet. He continued walking and she saw him just as they reached each other.

"Shikamaru!" she smiled.

"Hey. Have you seen Temari?" he asked lazily.

"Yeah, I saw her about an hour ago," she said, pointing behind her. "We were at that breakfast bar on the corner of this street two blocks down."

"Did she say where she was going?"

"No, but I think she said something about staying with you another night."

"Did she say anything else?" Shikamaru asked a bit too hopefully.

"What do you mean?" Sakura blinked.

"Never mind," Shikamaru sighed. "I'll see you later." He walked passed her and headed around the next street corner to make his way to the training grounds. He figured he might as well check there since it seemed a likely place.

---

Temari swept her giant fan to send the wind crashing into the trees around her. They were left with scratch marks and a few of the tinier branches fell to the ground. She stood in a small clearing in one of the many training areas of Konoha. She didn't have anyone to spar with and so went to taking her anger at life out on the trees.

The morning sun could be seen above the trees, and it had warmth to it instead of a searing heat. However, Temari was still sweating due to the past half hour she had been waving her fan around. She breathed heavily, glaring at the strong trees around her that refused to break. It reminded her of the trees in the Chuunin Exam arena that Shikamaru had hid behind to escape her wind slicing assaults. Now she would easily be able to break those ones, but these were a little tougher and she wasn't trying all that hard; she only want to break a few, not annihilate the entire forest.

After she had left Sakura far behind, her previous thoughts had started to make her angry. And when she remembered how blatantly Shikamaru had walked away from her the night before, she decided it would be better to take her anger out on something. She stood up straight as her panting slowed and she started to draw her fan up for another swing. With her hands holding her open fan almost behind her, she was beginning to pull it forward but just as the wind was picking up, she felt her body stop responding and unwillingly let go of her fan. The momentum sent it to fall a few feet ahead of her as her hands came together to form that all to familiar seal. If she tried, she may have been able to stop herself from doing it, but at the moment she couldn't be bothered.

"Shadow imitation jutsu: success," she heard muttered a short way behind her. "You know," Shikamaru called. "It's not very polite to just leave early in the morning from someone's house without even thanking them."

"It's not very nice to sneak up on someone while their training, either," she hissed.

"Well I was afraid I'd be cut into pieces if I just called out to you."

"Hmph," Temari smirked. "Well if you wanted to talk to me, you're going to have to release me first." She had figured that Shikamaru was facing her back. That meant that if he walked towards her, she would be forced to walk away. And if he turned around so she could face him, he would have his back to her. "Not much of a genius, are you?"

"Tch," Shikamaru dropped his arms to his side and Temari did the same. "I wanted to safely get your attention, not force you to talk to me." He released the jutsu and Temari thought that it felt like what it would feel to have Gaara's sand released from around your body, though she was glad that she had never actually experienced it. She turned to Shikamaru, still smirking, and folded her arms over her chest. Seeing him made her stomach knot up but she hid it well. This was what she had hoped for: he came looking for her.

"What do you want? It's not like you to come looking for someone."

"My mother made me," he sighed. Temari's heart sank.

"Your mother?" Temari narrowed her eyes at him. "Why?"

"She needs to know if you're coming back or not for meals and stuff," Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck lazily.

"That's it?" Temari spat. Shikamaru looked at her questioningly. She suddenly felt even angrier than before. Angry at Shikamaru for not actually wanting to see her and angry at herself for believing he did. "Why don't you come find me when you've got some other reason to besides a small errand for someone else?"

She suddenly turned on her heel and took a few steps to practically yank her fan off of the ground and strap it to her back. She didn't even look over her shoulder or do anything else of acknowledgement as she jumped up into the trees and quickly left Shikamaru behind.

---

Shikamaru stared after her. _What was that all about?_ He groaned, feeling like he had missed some vital piece of information. Clearly she was angry about something, but he had also noticed another emotion in those eyes that she tried so hard to keep blank. He had seen hurt. Did she really care that much about whether or not he had come looking for her just to see her? He groaned again and turned around to head back into town.

"No sense in following after her right now," he muttered. After wandering aimlessly through many streets, he found that he had reached the stairs up to the roof of the building that he often liked to lay on top of to watch the clouds. He shrugged and headed up them, taking a seat on the wooden platform before laying back and closing his eyes.

He found his thoughts revisiting everything he had thought last night, but now every move Temari had made no longer seemed like it was her way of feeling powerful. The way she had just walked away all because he was just relaying something from his mother stirred something inside of him. And the hurt he had glimpsed in her eyes made that something turn over. He didn't know why, but now he knew. He knew that Temari didn't just want him. She wanted _him_ to want _her_. And possibly, if he dared to think that far, he was almost sure that she wanted him to _love_ her.

Without his usual groan, he stood up and started yet another search for the woman who he couldn't help but be drawn to.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** I think we are finally begining to reach the whole point of my story (yes there is one) lol. anyway i hope you liked it! Reviews, again, are always wonderous!  
-Atty 


	11. Dandelion Wish

Okay, so this chapter is shorter for three reasons: it's very discriptive so i don't wanna give you a headache with anymore ramble, i wanted to update relatively soon because the last few have taken so long, and because i want to be able to cut the next chapter off at the right spot, meaning i need to make sure there's enough content beforehand. and so, here it is i hope its a good one!!

* * *

**Dandelion Wish**

Temari had balled her fists and set to pace angrily back and forth fuming about Shikamaru. _Maybe I shouldn't stay another night,_ she thought angrily. _I should just leave Konoha right now!_

The sun was high above her, signaling that it was noon, but Temari made no effort to go and find some lunch. After she had left Shikamaru, she had kept going until she reached a strange stone monument. There was an engraving that said 'Hero's Memorial Stone' and as she skimmed over the names that were etched into the surface, she couldn't find any that she had heard of before. She soon gave up with a sigh and went back to thinking about Shikamaru.

She huffed and plopped down onto the edge of the memorials base. She drew up her knees and stuck her elbows on them to rest her head in her hands. Her fan lay on the ground and she stared at it as if she was expecting it to perform some sort of trick. A warm breeze ruffled the ends of her four small ponytails and she sighed into the wind. She lifted her head and turned it in the direction of the wind, watching small leaves and the fluffy, white heads of the dead dandelions being carried away by it. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, turning her head back to the ground before opening them. She spotted one of the dead dandelions at her feet, unhampered by the wind. She pinched the stem in her fingers, bending and pulling on it so it snapped, and then drew it up to look at it, twirling it thoughtfully between her fingers. She took a deep breath and blew it out forcefully at the little pieces of fluff. When her breath ran out, she was left staring at a stem and naked center. Another breeze went by just in time to carry away the white fluff and her wish.

She let go of the remaining stem and watched it drop to the ground, before involuntarily standing up and walking a few paces before lifting her arm up as if to push away unseen branches above her head. She looked ahead of her and saw Shikamaru standing at the edge of the trees, with his same arm raised over him, holding a leaf-covered branch above his head, smirking at her. She had known it was him before she had seen him, and even before she had moved against her will. She had seen his pointed shadow coming towards hers as she had dropped the stem, but for some reason she had made no move to stop it. At the back of her mind, she knew it was because she was curious about what he planned to do.

---

Shikamaru trudged through the overgrown forest and wove in and out of low branches when necessary. The task was a pain, but he knew he would be worse off with regret if he didn't do it. Not for the first time, he wondered what he had done to deserve such troublesome circumstances.

He could see the memorial stone through the trees, and Temari was sitting at its base, picking a dead flower off the ground. When he had asked around town earlier, no one had seen her so he guessed that she hadn't left the training grounds. He was a little surprised to see her at the Hero's Memorial of all places, but that didn't really matter right now anyway. He crouched down and watched her as she did what children often did to make a wish and decided to wait and see if she succeeded. As she watched the breeze carry the white petals away, he formed the hand seals and sent his shadow soaring out to her as she looked back to the ground and dropped the stem.

He was sure she could see his attack, if you called it that, but she made no move and gave no hint that she had. When he stood up and she stood with him, he knew she was aware of him because she made no attempt to struggle or break the bonds. He reached the edge of the forest and lifted a branch away from his head as he watched her make the same movement. She seemed almost expressionless as he smirked at her, but he was sure he could see anticipation in those startling green eyes.

He took another step and dropped his arm as she did the exact same. He closed the distance between them with only a few casual steps because she was forced to do the same. Even so, she still hadn't resisted. Inches separated them and when he brought his arms up to wrap around her waist and draw her closer, he released the jutsu so she was free to lift her hands up in surprise as if to push him away. Instead she laid them calmly against his chest and kept her eyes diverted down from his own.

The way she made no attempt to rush what he was obviously doing only confirmed what he had thought back at the top of the building, but that now seemed to be a world away. His heartbeat was more rushed than usual and he was sure that hers was as well. Why? Because this moment meant so much more than the others had.

He finally lowered his lips onto hers and waited for her to respond, which didn't take long. This kiss wasn't as frisky as their first, or as deep as their second, but the softness of it caused him to wrap his arms more tightly around her and he felt her melt against him.

Shikamaru didn't let it last long for fear of ruining it, even though it had felt like an eternity. His lips were still near hers and both of them kept their eyes angled down as they breathed calmly.

---

Temari's heart raced against itself as the kiss was broken. Every sliver of a thought that she had had since she had first glimpsed Shikamaru's shadow felt like an enigma. She didn't know why this shirker before her, who thought everything but clouds were troublesome, had come all this way just to kiss her like that. All doubt of his feelings for her from the night before – about how he might just accept her kisses because he was too lazy to pull away – had vanished the moment he had touched her lips. The only thought she still believed was true was that it was definitely not a crush. Voicing such a thing may have made it unbelievable, but neither had said a word since he had come out from the forest. Their actions and movements had said it all, and for once they hadn't been misinterpreted.

They pulled further away from each other at the same time, only not far enough for Shikamaru to release her waist. She finally looked up at him and almost feared what her eyes would give away. He was smirking at her. Only this time his eyes were softer than their usual triumphant glare.

"So are you coming back or not?" he finally asked.

"Hmph," she pulled away from him entirely and crossed her arms, smirking back at him. "And why do you care?"

"Because," he began with a sigh. She could almost hear 'troublesome' in his thoughts as he glanced up at the sky. "I… want you to."

Temari closed her eyes and sighed quietly. The naked dandelion stem back by her fan hadn't betrayed her. She opened her eyes again and smiled. He seemed startled, and she realized actually smiling wasn't something she did often so she replaced it with another smirk.

"I might."

He raised an eyebrow at her and she turned away from him to return to the memorial stone. She bent down to pick up her fan, discreetly reclaiming the discarded stem, before standing back up. She swung her fan around to reattach it to her back, cleverly hiding the stem in her obi as she did so. She felt incredibly girly for doing it, but right now she didn't care. She looked over her shoulder and gave Shikamaru a cheeky grin, to which he rolled his eyes and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"Let's get lunch," Temari said, walking back over to him and grabbing him by the elbow to pull him along. He made no attempt to resist so she hooked her hand on his arm and headed to the nearest exit of the training grounds.

* * *

**Author's Notes**: Does it make you feel all bubbly inside? lol jk. i hope it flowed okay and that it sounds believable. input would deff help for this one.  
-Atty  
P.S. I keep smelling burnt toast/copper/pumpkin seeds. and i wonder if i should be worried 


	12. Out Of The Shadows

OMG finally! Sorry it took so long! I blame it on one word: school (not to mention a horendous wirters block but I blame that on school too). I hope I haven't been forgotten in my absence. tee hee.

P.S. Special thanks to Hikari who re-motivated me!

* * *

**Out Of The Shadows**

Once Temari had pulled Shikamaru out onto one of the many streets, she grinned mischievously at him before heading towards the nearest restaurant. It was a quiet one that she had seen once while searching for someplace else. There were two big windows on either side of the door and she could see a booth behind both. It was brightly lit inside and she could see that the rest of the restaurant went further back into the building, and she knew that it went straight through to another entrance on the adjacent street. It looked rather idle inside and she wasn't in the mood for another disruptive lunch, so she decided it was perfect.

Shikamaru stopped short and groaned when he took in the sight of the restaurant.

"What? Not enough shadows in there?" she smirked. "'Cause that's the only way you've been able to kiss me so far."

"Tch." Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "It's not that, it's… troublesome."

"Why?" Temari narrowed her eyes.

"Never mind," he sighed, walking towards the restaurant doors, subsequently pulling her along by her hand still wrapped around his arm.

There was a jingle of bells as Shikamaru pushed open the doors. A woman at the bar smiled to them as she got drinks for a table at the other end of the restaurant.

"Just pick a seat, I'll be right with you," she said with a plastered smile before she picked up her drinks and turned to go the opposite way.

Temari took the booth in front of one of the windows and slid in, laying her fan down behind her, while Shikamaru sat down across from her. She crossed her leg over her knee and put her elbows on the table and her head on her folded hands. Shikamaru folded his arms on the table and let out a breath while turning his head to look out the window. Temari watched him, smirking all the while. He glanced at her from the side of his eye as if sensing her gaze and turned to scoff at her.

"What are you laughing at?"

"I'm not laughing," Temari said flatly without averting her eyes.

"Then what are you smirking at?"

"You,"

"Tch. What about me?"

"For a lazy ass, you sure go out of your way sometimes," Temari said as she shifted her cheek onto one fist and dropped the other arm over the tabletop.

Shikamaru looked back out the window. "For a supposedly tough kunoichi, you sure act girly sometimes."

"Hey!" Temari dropped her hand and sat up straight. "What's that for? I wasn't trying to be mean." When Shikamaru continued to stare out the window without a response, Temari growled and kicked him. He jumped and faced her angrily, reaching under the table to rub his shin. He was about to let out a retort but the waitress beat him to it.

"Can I get you guys started with some drinks?" she asked with her plastered smile while she put a menu in front of each of them.

"Ah, water, please," Temari said. The waitress looked to Shikamaru expectantly while he continued to glare at Temari.

"Water's fine," he muttered and the waitress walked away.

"You don't have to be so rude," Temari scowled. "Can't you tell she'd already rather be somewhere else?"

"Troublesome."

"What was that?"

Shikamaru ignored her and opened his menu. Temari scowled again before doing the same. Their waitress soon came back over with their water and set them down before getting out a pad of paper and pulling a pen out from behind her ear.

"Are you ready to order, or do you need a few more minutes?" She had abandoned the plastered smile, but she remained polite.

"I'll have the soup," Temari said, handing back the menu and smiling as best she could. The waitress gave her a real smile in return. "Shikamaru?" Temari said, tapping him gingerly on his sore leg with her toes.

"Huh?" he looked up and seemed to register the woman taking their order. "Oh, whatever she's having," he said lazily as he handed back his menu as well.

"Is that everything?"

"Ah, thank you" Temari said, taking a sip of water. Their waitress put her pen back behind her ear and tucked the pad of paper away without jotting anything down and left them once again. "Now what?"

"Now what, what?"

"You were completely zoned out."

"Tch."

"Well? Come on, let's have it."

"It's… too troublesome," he muttered, stirring his water lazily with his straw. "It doesn't matter."

"Of course it matters," Temari kept her voice smooth. Shikamaru looked… upset. Not the complaining upset or the angry upset, but the worried upset. And that worried Temari. "You know, this would be a lot easier for me if I knew half the stuff that went through your mind."

"You think you're the only one?"

"Is that what it's about?"

"I just don't understand how you can act so angry when I act like I don't care and so girly when I show that I do and then go right back to being manipulative and bossy afterwards." He said it all as if it were a sigh while he stared at his drink. Temari glared at him. He glanced up at her and smirked. "That just proves my point."

"You are so—"

"Troublesome?" he continued to smirk at her while she let out a breath of frustration.

"Impossible!" She threw her hands up in exasperation then let them drop back to the table, resting her chin on one hand while staring out the window and letting the other hand fall out in front of her.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru leaned back in his seat with a sigh and leaned his head back. Temari stole a glance at him out of the corner of her eye to find his eyes closed. She rolled her own then looked back out the window and drummed her fingers on the table top.

Shikamaru opened one eye to squint in the direction of the new noise. He looked from Temari's hand to her face to see her gazing out of the window. He decided to blame it on a reflex when he reached out to put his hand over top of hers to halt her fingers. She pretty much jumped in surprise and turned to him. Shikamaru hesitated when he realized what he had just done, but was saved by the waitress, who had brought their soup.

"Here you are," she said as Shikamaru and Temari hastily pulled their hands away from each other. Temari cleared her throat and thank their waitress as her soup was placed in front of her. Shikamaru muttered thanks as well. "Not a problem," she said before walking away again.

Temari lifted her spoon and dipped it into her soup, then watched it intently as she raised it to her lips to make sure it didn't drip and splash her. She was almost unsuccessful when she yelped as it scorched her tongue, nearly dropping the spoon to splash in the soup. She heard a chuckle and looked up to glare at Shikamaru.

"Careful," he smirked. "It's hot."

"Yeah, thanks for the warning," she growled.

She watched him take a spoonful just as she had and seemed to forget his own warning, burning his own mouth and dropping his spoon. The soup sloshed out of the bowl onto the plate underneath and a few splashes leapt out of the bowl, landing harmlessly on the table.

"Are you eating or dieing?" Temari teased, not bothering to hide her smile of amusement. He glanced up at her in frustration before picking up his spoon and stirring the broth in an attempt to cool it. Temari lifted a spoonful and blew on it before putting it in her mouth. While they ate in silence, Temari took to swinging her leg subconsciously under the table. She became aware of it the first time she grazed Shikamaru's leg. He ignored it so she continued swinging her leg, not caring if she ruffled his plant leg with every other swing. When Shikamaru had finished and Temari was almost done, their waitress stopped by and asked if they were ready for their bill. Shikamaru nodded and got up to follow her so she wouldn't have to come back to their table.

Temari finished up and slid out after him, picking up her fan and strapping it to her back. She leaned against the side of the booth while she waited for Shikamaru to return. She could see him from where she stood and he glanced over at her. She smirked at him for his lack of complaint about paying for the bill. He smirked back then turned to pay their waitress before heading idly back over to her.

"So," she said slyly. "What is it exactly that's so bad about this place?"

"Hm?"

"You complained about having to come in earlier," Temari folded her arms triumphantly for remembering to bring it up. "Why?"

"Who needs shadows?" he muttered.

"Eh?" she knotted her eyebrows in confusion.

"I said," he whispered, moving closer. "Who needs shadows?" He pulled her away from the booth and began to kiss her much like he had before. She wrapped her arms around his neck with a smirk on her face as she remembered her comment on shadows and kissing. It seemed there was an unspoken plan to let this one last longer, and they hardly noticed the jingle of the opening door. What made them break the kiss was the voice.

'Oh my gosh!" Sakura squealed. "I knew it, I knew it. I knew it!"

Temari jumped back from Shikamaru in surprise and turned crimson. Shikamaru tried to hide a small blush on his cheeks by turning away and rubbing the back of his neck while Temari let words fall hastily out of her mouth.

"Oh, Sakura, hi! We were—I mean… We were just—Ano… Well, I—" Temari waved her hands in front of her face in embarrassment much like Sakura usually did.

"Kissing?" Sakura cut her off. "Wow, I mean… Everyone knew it was bound to happen! I'm surprised it took so long myself. But it's been totally obvious ever since you started preparations for the latest Chuunin exam. So who kissed who?" Her words came out in a speeded blur and she suddenly gasped in surprise. "Maybe this isn't your first kiss. Have you been secretly seeing each other?"

Temari gaped at Sakura in horror as she continued her long string of thought, not bothering to interrupt or answer anything. She then furrowed her brow. What did she mean by 'everyone knew it was bound to happen?' Shikamaru looked extremely uncomfortable and irritable at such an inconvenient interruption. Sakura paused for a breath and Temari took the opportunity.

"Sakura, what are you doing here anyway?"

"Me? Oh, Tsunade just wanted me to pick up her take-out order." Sakura's eye's lit up in realization. "Oh, that's right! I better hurry and get back," she said as she rushed over to the bar to get the order.

Temari turned to Shikamaru and smiled sheepishly. He sighed and took her hand to lead her out of the restaurant while Sakura was distracted.

"That," he said as they headed down the street and out of sight of the restaurant, "Was why I didn't want to go in." He turned to smirk at her confused look. "I knew that Tsunade liked to get take-out from there and that she often sent Sakura or Ino."

"Ha!" Temari smirked mischievously. "I knew you didn't want people to know about us."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at her before glancing down at their laced fingers while they walked down the street, and then back up at her with a smirk. "What makes you think that?"

Temari took a turn to glance down at their hands as well as if only just realizing that they were held for the world to see.

"Hn," she smiled and looked ahead to see where she was going. "Well Sakura knows now, so everyone's going to find out soon anyway."

"Tch, troublesome."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** So... I hope I haven't lost my touch due to my extended absence. XD Though I can pretty much guarantee that the next update will be this coming Saturday becuase it's Shikamaru's birthday!! squeeee! There is one thing above all else that I am positive of and determined about: I WILL finish this fanfic... it just might take a while.  
Hoping to hear from my faithful readers,  
Atty 


	13. Into the Dark

As prosmised! It may be so late that it's almost not Saturaday anymore but I did it! wooh! So yes. thanks to all my awesome reviewers so far. I so try to not disapoint : ) but yes.. I dedicated this chapter to Shikamaru on his birthday! (September 22nd). And what a chapter to dedicate to him...

* * *

**Into the Dark**

Laughter filled the hillside as Temari rolled on her side to turn away from Shikamaru. He was scowling viciously at her as he failed to see the humor in the situation. Temari gripped her sides and tried to sit up as she regained herself. Shikamaru couldn't help but let a small smile catch at the corner of his lips. It wasn't often that Temari laughed like that.

When she turned back to him he quickly reclaimed his scowl.

"It's not funny," he retorted. "It was perfectly reasonable."

Temari covered her mouth to suppress another laugh while she looked at him. "It's hysterical," she finally said. "You talk like they're mindless demons with a lust for blood." She let out a deep breath to prevent herself from falling into another laughing fit. "They may be protective but they're not insane."

"One of them used to be!" Shikamaru protested.

"He's Kazekage now! Besides, Naruto changed him. You know that."

"Is it honestly so unbelievable that I would be worried about your brothers?"

Temari smiled. "Not usually, no," she said before turning her grin into a smirk. "But you're supposed to have an IQ of over 200!" Temari started to laugh again, but it had resided to a small giggle.

"Fine," Shikamaru huffed. "But don't act surprised when they pick a fight with me."

"Shikamaru," Temari said it in a rather you're-so-cute voice. "Don't be so ridiculous. They wouldn't do that to a guy I was with unless they had good reason to believe that he was going to take advantage of me. And it's not like I can't take care of myself in such situations." She raised an eyebrow at him mischievously. "Besides, it'd be too _troublesome_ for you to try something like that."

"Tch." Shikamaru rolled his eyes and lay back down in the grass to resume watching the clouds.

After lunch Shikamaru and Temari had wandered off aimlessly. He hadn't wanted to head home right away because he feared that his mother would want him to do something troublesome. And so they had found themselves at the park on his favorite hill for cloud watching.

Shikamaru had regrettably voiced his worry about how Temari's brothers would react to them being… well, together. As you know, Temari had laughed. And laughed. Now Shikamaru was frustrated and fuming. He should have known it would only be troublesome to talk about it.

He closed his eyes against the sun and kept a scowl on his face incase Temari decided to look over. He heard her sigh beside him and shuffle to lie down. She shifted some more and he finally felt her settle her head onto his abdomen. Bending his neck up slightly by his hands folded behind his head, he opened an eye to squint at her. Her eyes were trained on the sky above and she turned briefly to smirk at him. He returned the look before relaxing his neck and looking back up at the sky himself.

--

By the time the sun was starting its descent on the horizon, Temari could feel Shikamaru's chest rising and falling beneath her. His deep and steady breathing made her want to fall asleep herself. This only reminded her of the long day she had ahead of her tomorrow and she knew taking a nap outside on a hill wasn't very practical. She needed a warm bed and she could almost hear Shikamaru's bed calling her name.

Rather unwillingly, she sat up with a groan and turned to Shikamaru. He hadn't stirred.

"Shikamaru," she crooned. "I think we should head back." No answer. "Shikamaru?" Still no answer. His chest continued to rise and fall. "Oi, Shikamaru!" She poked him in the side and was rewarded with a grunt.

"Not now," he murmured.

"Get up, you lazy ass."

He opened his eyes a fraction and pushed himself up onto his elbows. The sun was now touching the horizon and he turned away from the glare to face Temari. She smirked at him and pushed herself off of her knees, grabbing on of his hands and attempting to pull him up with her. He groaned as he tried to lie back down.

"Five more minutes."

"Shikamaru, if you don't get up I'm leaving you here," she said, still grasping his hand.

"You sound like my mother," he said, pulling on Temari's hand as he sat up and then stood. He stumbled to gain balance and then righted himself inches from Temari.

"You mother, huh?" she drawled. "I'm not so sure I like that."

"Well you're just as troublesome as her," he sighed. "Not to mention bossy."

Temari's heart dropped. "Fine, if it's that much work then just stay here," she huffed, dropping his hand and turning to walk back alone.

"Temari," he groaned. "I didn't mean it like that."

"It's kind of hard to mistake words like those," she said, turning back and folding her arms over her chest. "Being told she's like her boyfriend's mother isn't exactly what a girl wants to hear."

"Whoa, b-boyfriend?" he stammered. "Who said anything about being your boyfriend?"

"Ano, you did! By kissing me and then not denying it to Sakura!" Temari moved her hands to her hips. "Not to mention you called us 'together' when you said you were worried about my brothers!"

Shikamaru reached a hand up to rub the back of his neck while he turned his head away to hide his blush. He dropped his hand with a sigh and turned back to Temari. "Sorry," he muttered, looking down at the ground.

Temari's mouth fell open a bit but her eyes remained calm.

"I mean, you're not like my mother." He glanced up at her and she was now looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "Well, you are," he winced at her look and hurried on. "I mean, yeah you're troublesome and bossy like her sometimes. But you act that way because you care and you're also devoted and you're not a push over and you're strong and smart and beau—"

Temari now had her arms around his neck and her mouth over his before he could go on. He hadn't even noticed her come closer but he had noticed the embarrassment on her face as he had rambled on. He welcomed the kiss with relief and wrapped his arms around her back.

"Shut up," she said, pulling away with a smirk and reaching down to poke him in the side. He backed away with a grunt but, for the first time ever, she saw a smile and heard a muffled laugh. She grabbed his hand with a look of triumph and pulled him into step beside her while they headed back to his house.

--

Shikamaru put his hand on the door handle and turned it only to find it was locked. He sighed and reached into one of his various pockets to fish out his keys. Sliding the right one into the lock and turning, he heard a click and tried the handle once again.

He held the door open for Temari as he pocketed his keys and then stepped in after her. The sun was almost below the horizon by the time they got back to his house and he was wondering why both his parents would be out. Temari slid out of her shoes and left her fan by the door, immediately turning to head upstairs.

"I'll be up there in a sec," Shikamaru said, taking off his own shoes and heading for the kitchen. He found the note he was looking for on the fridge.

_Shikamaru,_

_You're father and I are out on a mission, but we should be back by the morning. If Temari is with you, there's extra supper in the fridge for both of you and I left the blankets out for you on the couch._

_Love,_

_Mom_

Shikamaru sighed and opened the fridge. The supper his mom had left consisted of something along the lines of beef, potato and rice. He took it out and threw it onto plates, then put them into the microwave in turns. Grabbing utensils, he took the two plates and headed upstairs.

Temari was leaning against the window sill while she tried to find the first few stars of the night. She had already changed into comfier clothes for the night. It was something resembling cotton sweatpants and a tank top. The only light in the room was coming from the lamp on his bedside table.

"Hungry?" Shikamaru asked.

Temari turned round in surprise. "Did you just make that?" she asked disbelievingly.

"Tch. My mom made it earlier. I just heated it up."

"I'm surprised you even bothered," she smirked. She took a plate from him and he headed over to sit up on his bed. He set his plate down while he took off his Chuunin vest and threw it to a corner of the room. "And here I was thinking you were going to spring a table and two chairs out of nowhere," she teased. He merely smiled as she pulled herself up onto his bed as well and scooted to sit beside him.

They ate in near silence, glancing at each other every now and then. When Shikamaru had finished, Temari was still working on hers. He slid off the bed and set his dirty plate on his desk.

"Do you want a drink or anything?" he asked.

"Sure it's not too troublesome?" she smirked.

"Tch."

"Water's good, thanks," she said, going back to her food. He left her to head downstairs, not even bothering to bring his plate with him. He came back up shortly after and shut the door behind him, then handed her a glass while sitting back on the bed. He took her finished plate and set it on the floor as she gulped her water. She finally let out a breath when the glass was half empty and handed it back to him with a cheeky smile.

"You sure you don't want anymore?" he asked teasingly. She shoved him playfully when he took a sip for himself before putting it on his bedside table. He turned back to her and they leaned in at the same time for a kiss; their silence while they ate had been shouting for this.

Temari leaned into Shikamaru until they were lying beside each other. A fight for dominance had already begun in their mouths, and so far Temari was winning. They felt each other smile into their kiss and Temari unzipped his jacket so that he could shake it off behind him, then he placed his hand onto her cheek. Temari pulled his shirt up and forced them to break their kiss momentarily while she pulled it over his head and chucked it out of the way.

Shikamaru reached behind him blindly and knocked over the almost empty glass of water onto the floor. They bother ignored the sound of it splashing onto his carpet and he finally found the bedside light and flicked it off.

--

Shikamaru opened his eyes groggily to the blinding light of the sun coming through his bedroom window. He shut them tight against it, unable to take anything in. He could feel a warm and heavy weight on his bare chest and wondered how the family cat had gotten into his room and up onto his bed last night. He felt like shoeing it off but decided scratch marks on his chest didn't appeal to him.

He still felt extremely tired and thought his body shouldn't have woken up already. He already knew the quick thudding coming from the other side of his bedroom door was his mother knocking to wake him up.

"Shikamaru? Hurry up and get dressed and come down for breakfast. Godaime Hokage has asked to see you this morning so you need to hurry up." He heard his mother's voice on the other side of his door and he let out a sigh. "Shikamaru? Are you still asleep? You better answer me or I'm coming in."

His eyes snapped open as he heard the handle start to turn and he didn't need to glance down to remember that they didn't even own a cat. He remembered every detail of last night in a sudden flood, and he knew that he had never, and would never, experience something as troublesome as his mother walking in on him in the morning with Temari – naked.

_Damn it!_ He hardly had time to think or even move as the handle to his bedroom door continued to turn.

"Wait! Mom, I'm not decent!" He cried out helplessly, pushing himself up with his elbows as the door began to open and Temari stirred.

"Oh, stop complaining, Shikamaru. I'm you're mother. I've seen it all befo—" she stopped mid-sentence, mid-word, mid-step and dropped the laundry basket she was carrying. "Oh my _God_, Shikamaru! What the hell do you think you're—"

"Mom! Get out!" he yelled at her, and she left so quickly in her shock that she forgot the laundry basket on the floor.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **I wonder who's more embarrassed... lol. Well I'll try to update sooner than later. After this chapter I know what has to happen so I shouldn't be having writer's block for a while. Thanks for reading!  
-Atty 


	14. To Suna

"Did you're mom just walk in on… us?" Temari said sleepily, sounding slightly amused as she rubbed her eye with her hand.

"You think that's funny?" He scoffed at her.

"Well you'd think she'd have figured it out since you weren't down on the couch." Temari sat backwards and pulled the sheets with her to cover the top of her body.

Shikamaru got out of bed to look for clean clothes, which he found in the laundry basket. "You don't get it. My mother… She… She's very temperamental. She's probably thinking up about two hundred ways to kill me right now."

Temari let out a small laugh. "Really? I couldn't tell."

He continued to dig through the laundry basket without looking at her.

"Don't worry," she said playfully, pulling herself to sit on the edge of the bed and crossing on leg over the other. "I'll make it up to you."

He looked back at her with an eyebrow raised, then gave in and smirked back at her. "Well, get dressed. My mother's making breakfast; let's hope she doesn't poison it."

--

Once they walked down into the kitchen, Shikamaru's mother smiled at them as if nothing was amiss as she worked over a frying pan.

"Good morning, Temari. I'm just making extra for you now. I'd forgotten you were here because Shikamaru wasn't on the couch—"She stopped herself and shot a deadly look at Shikamaru before turning her attention back to her cooking.

"Wasn't on the couch, eh?" Shikaku said as he entered the kitchen. "It does look like no one settled into it last night."

Temari blushed and looked at the floor, and Shikamaru made the mistake of looking at his father, who gave him a sly smile and winked at him before taking a seat at the table. Shikamaru groaned inwardly and sat down as well while Temari sat across from him. His mother brought over the first few pancakes and offered them first to Temari, then to Shikaku. Temari had taken the first two, and Shikaku had taken the last three, giving Shikamaru a cheeky grin. Shikamaru scowled and rested his chin on his hand.

Yoshino went back to the stove and poured more batter into the pan.

"Don't worry, there's more coming," she said over her shoulder with a smile. Shikamaru glanced across the table at Temari who looked from him to his mother and back to him with a shrug. His mother should have been yelling, or bitter at the least, but she was acting as if nothing had happened. Shikamaru was beginning to wonder if she really _was_ going to poison his food.

She finally came back over with the next few pancakes after Shikaku had started up a conversation with Temari about the weather in Suna. Yoshino smiled warmly at Shikamaru and offered him the pancakes. He grimaced as a charred smell wafted passed his nose.

"I'm not that hungry," he said.

His mother's face turned stern. "Shikamaru."

He forked a few of the burnt pancakes onto his plate with a sigh. His mother went back to her smile and set the last few pancakes onto the table. Seating herself, she stuck her fork into the edge of a pancake at the bottom of the small stack and drew it out onto her plate. It was perfectly golden. Temari covered her mouth to hide a smile and Shikamaru heard his father snort as he tried to suppress a laugh. His mother seemed to not notice.

Shikamaru looked back at his own plate of burnt pancakes and grabbed the syrup from the middle of the table to smother them so that the charred taste wasn't as noticeable. He cut off a piece and stabbed it, making sure to keep his eyes on his plate when he put it in his mouth. He chewed it slowly at first while he started to cut another piece.

It wasn't _that_ bad.

--

Kankurou held up a picture of him with a girl from his village. He sighed at it longingly. The girl had thrown her arms around his neck in joy after he had given her a coveted birthday present. His face was shocked and he despised the blush across his cheeks. It had been his sensei that had taken the picture. But his sensei hadn't known. And more importantly the girl hadn't known.

That hug meant so much more to him than a thank you.

He put the picture back on his chest of drawers and groaned when he remembered a certain plant in the hallway that needed feeding.

--

After having to force feed himself a burnt breakfast, Shikamaru had left the house before his mother had another opportunity to silently tell him how angry she was. The Hokage had asked to see him, as his mother had told him through his door before she… Well, anyway he had a good excuse to leave and Temari figured she should tag along since she needed to let Tsunade know she was heading home today.

"So," Shikamaru said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess I'll be seeing you in a month."

"I'm not gone yet," Temari chuckled. "Stop acting so miserable."

"Easy for you to say," he growled. "You're not the one that has to go home and put up with an insufferable woman that wants to see you in pain."

"Hmm," Temari smirked. "That sounds an awful lot like me."

"Tch." Shikamaru stopped and knocked on the door to Tsunade's office.

"Come in!" They heard sharply from the other side. Shikamaru opened the door and let Temari walk in first, then followed after her and let the door fall shut behind him. "Ah, you both came, good."

Shikamaru and Temari exchanged looks and then looked back to Tsunade.

"What I needed to talk to Shikamaru about has to do with you," Tsunade said to Temari, answering their questioning looks.

"What about me?" Temari asked, still confused.

"It seems that there are some rogue ninja that have been seen around the border between the Fire Country and Wind Country. I'm sure you are perfectly capable of taking care of yourself, but nevertheless Gaara has sent a request that I send an escort with you on your return to Suna."

"What?" Temari sputtered. "What does he think I am? A twelve year old?"

"You're sending me?" Shikamaru asked quietly beside her.

"I see your genius skills aren't lacking," Tsunade smiled. "But yes. Temari and you seem to have built up a friendship by working on the Chuunin Exams and, quite frankly, I can't really spare anyone else right now."

Shikamaru sighed. "Is that all?"

"No. You are to leave with Temari whenever she is ready. You can rest up in Suna for a few days once you arrive, and then return. But I'll be asking you to go back as our representative to travel with Gaara on his way here for the final matches of the Chuunin Exams. Or," Tsunade paused and Shikamaru groaned. "You can stay in Suna until Temari makes her way back with Gaara."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered.

"You don't have to tell me your decision right now. Just send me message when you get to Suna to say whether you're staying or not."

"Is that all?"

"Yes, you're dismissed."

"Actually, Tsunade-sama," Temari began, "I'm heading back today in a couple of hours. I'd like to thank you for your hospitality," she said with a short bow.

Tsunade smiled. "Not at all, you're always welcome here. Besides, according to Anko you should be thanking Shikamaru."

Temari stiffened and felt the heat rush to her face. Shikamaru stood beside her uncomfortably.

"We better get going," he said, turning to leave before Tsunade could inquire further.

--

Gaara stood on his balcony, overlooking the bustle of the streets below. His gourd was strapped to his back and he had all of his usual attire. He had discarded the itchy Kazekage rob in his room, preferring to be seen in regular clothes like the rest of the villagers. It made him feel more like he was one of them.

He had heard lately that there were rogue ninja between Konoha and Suna, but he didn't doubt that his sister could take care of herself. The real reason he wanted an escort from Konoha to accompany her was because he was hoping it was someone he could talk to about Temari's strange behavior. He was still contemplating about her mood the last time she had been home. And he was still determined to find out why she had changed.

Surely an escort and representative from Konoha would know what recent events could have made his sister act so differently.

--

Shikamaru stopped a few meters from his house and groaned.

"Stop being such a crybaby," Temari shoved him playfully and walked passed him. "What more can she do to you?"

"You have no idea," he muttered nonchalantly under his breath. He walked up to her on his doorstep and opened the door to let her in.

"Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru cringed at the sound of his mother's voice coming through the kitchen. "I put the laundry in your room. I'm busy today so I need you to do it for me."

"Troublesome woman," he sighed.

"Shikamaru?" His mother called again.

"Hai, I heard you!" he yelled back impatiently.

"Don't use that tone with me, young man."

Shikamaru ignored her and headed up the stairs while Temari held back a snicker.

"Shikamaru, are you listening to me?" Yoshino continued, walking out into the main room to see him heading up the stairs. She huffed and Temari looked at her apologetically before following after him.

Shikamaru opened his bedroom door and groaned.

"Now what? It can't be that bad." Temari came up beside him and looked passed him into his bedroom. He scowled at her when she started laughing. There were five laundry baskets on his bed, waiting to be folded, as well as the disheveled one on the floor that his mom had left there that morning. He let out a heart wrenching sigh and headed over to his bed, dumping out the closest basket and setting to work. Temari sat up onto his bed and helped him fold t-shirts and pants, and putting them neatly back into the laundry basket. That is, Temari put hers in neatly and ended up having to straighten up most of Shikamaru's work.

They moved onto a second, darker wash load of clothes, which contained clothes much the same as the first, only with a few socks and boxers, which Shikamaru quickly grabbed and stuffed into one of his drawers.

By their fourth basket, Temari reached for a brightly colored one that Shikamaru had been avoiding. Before he could protest, she dumped all its contents onto the bed and smirked, holding up a frilly pair of underwear and a matching bra.

"Shikamaru, I didn't know you wore lingerie," she grinned mercilessly at him.

He felt his face heat up even more than it had when she had dumped the basket full of his mother's undergarments onto his bed. "I didn't know _you_ wore lingerie," he shot back at her, motioning to a bra on his floor that she had forgotten to retrieve that morning. Her grin fell and she glared at him. He ignored her, smirking triumphantly as he started to pair up more socks. Temari took to pairing and folding all of his mother's lingerie and he did his best to seem unbothered by it.

Temari didn't seem to care, which he supposed was because she was a woman herself; though she did jump at a few chances to tease him about a certain few pieces. He ended up dumping out the last basket, letting Temari finish the colored one, so that he didn't have to be scarred by touching his mother's troublesome underwear. He was sure that she had taking every embarrassing one that she owned out of her drawer to wash just to embarrass him like this with Temari: his mother rarely asked him to fold the laundry, and whenever she did it was usually his own clothes.

Once all the laundry baskets on his bed had been refilled with folded clothes, Shikamaru kicked the one on his floor into his closet. He then stacked two of the baskets on his bed and left his room with them. Temari picked one up as well and followed after him.

Shikamaru left his load outside a door at the end of the hall and motioned for Temari to do the same. He straightened with a sigh and went back to his room for the remaining two.

--

"You're going to Suna for how long?" Yoshino asked darkly.

"A month at the most," Shikamaru sighed. "It's troublesome, but it's a mission from the Hokage."

Yoshino had been working in the kitchen as usual, and she was now sitting at the table with her arms folded in front of her. Shikamaru knew he would have to tell her he was leaving, but he also know that she would think he had requested it in order to get away from her and spend some time with Temari.

Granted, spending more time with Temari was appealing – especially after last night – but a trip to Suna where he might end up staying for a while, and in the desert no less, was _not_ appealing. And despite what Temari had said, he still didn't think her brother's would jump for joy to see she had chosen to be with someone as lazy as himself.

He smirked at the thought and Yoshino glared at him.

"What's so funny?"

"Huh?"

Yoshino huffed.

Temari was up in Shikamaru's room, packing. Shikamaru had decided that he wanted his mother to be around Temari as little as possible, so he had come down alone. He wasn't exactly sure of what his mother thought of her, but he didn't feel like finding out. It would be too troublesome. Of course, that didn't mean that he didn't _want_ his mom to like Temari; he just didn't know how to go about doing it.

"Look mom," he sighed. "I'm going to Suna, and I'm leaving today: end of story. If there's anything else you want to torture me with before I go, please get it over with now so that Temari and I can leave on time."

"Shikamaru," his mother sighed sadly. "I know you're not a little boy anymore, but you're still my baby."

Shikamaru winced at her comment but she continued.

"I know you're going through that stage of your life where you're starting to notice girls and that you're going to get urges—"

"Mom!" he cut her off violently, standing up straight from the counter he had been leaning against lazily.

"All I'm saying is that I can't control how you feel, or what you might do. But I have to impress upon you that you can't always act on an impulse. Make sure that whoever you are with is someone you truly care about."

Shikamaru huffed and leaned back on the counter.

"No, Shikamaru listen to me! If you end up hurting that girl after what you did, so help me I will make you regret it."

"I'm not going to hurt her," Shikamaru almost whispered. "As hard as it may be to believe, I actually care about her."

Yoshino's face relaxed into a soft smile. "I know you do."

He looked away awkwardly and her face turned stern. "Just don't let me catch you in another situation like I did this morning! Or anyone else for that matter. What you do in your relationship is your business, but I don't need to witness it."

Shikamaru felt the temperature in his cheeks rise once again. "Can we not talk about that?" he growled, rubbing the back of his neck. His mother watched him silently. "I have to go," he said, turning to leave.

"Shikamaru?" his mother asked before walked away.

He looked over his shoulder. "Ah?"

"I love you."

"Troublesome woman," he muttered, but smiling nonetheless, before leaving the kitchen.

--

"You ready to go?" Temari asked as Shikamaru came into the main room. She was standing by the door with both of their rucksacks.

"Ah," he said, picking up his own and shouldering it. They stepped outside into warmth of the noon sun and headed towards the village gates. They passed Izumo and Kotetsu, who nodded at them in hello with slight amusement in their faces. Shikamaru decided to ignore it, but Temari smiled back at them over Shikamaru's shoulder and then put her hand on his arm to lean up and whisper in his ear.

"We get the next three days to ourselves," she said seductively, clearly putting on a show for the two watching them leave. "_Alone_." Shikamaru tensed and she saw his cheeks turn a shade of pink. He seemed to be blushing a lot lately. She moved away from him with a small laugh and he stuffed his hands in his pockets, grumbling under his breath about troublesome rumors.

Once they were far enough from the village that they could no longer see the gates, Temari jumped up into the trees and out of sight. Shikamaru smirked, thinking about the ideas Temari was probably coming up with to torture him on this trip. He didn't mind too much anymore when she teased him – it meant she had something better planned for him later on.

He pulled his hands out of his pockets and jumped up into the trees after her.


	15. Gaara's Reason

Okay, so basically the tittle of this chapter refers to what Gaara thinks of Shikamaru. Anyway I hope this chapter doesn't suffer due to my tiredness. I know it's rushed. But it'd be worse if I tried to drag it out.

Well, enjoy.

* * *

**Gaara's Reason**

Gaara sat at his desk with his elbows leaning on it and his fingers laced and held by his mouth. He was slightly annoyed that he had been disrupted at such a late hour but he hid it well.

There was a Jounin in front of him that had been selected to return to Suna with a report on the Chuunin Exams involving who had passed and the exact date that the final rounds would be taking place. Such information on the Chuunin Exams wasn't crucial enough to ask for the Kazekage to come back to the office at such a late our. He had claimed that he had something important to tell the Kazekage the minute he had returned to Suna that evening. Despite reason, Gaara had still thought that it had to do with the Chuunin Exams, but the look on the man's face seemed to say that it was much more personal.

"Well, you see," he began. His name was Yuei. He was slightly older than the Gaara and was known to be rather fidgety. Yuei gulped and looked at the floor. Apparently Gaara's presence was still frightening and it was probably emphasized by the fact that Gaara was _not_ happy about being there. "Three nights ago, when I was getting ready to leave," he stole a glance at Gaara, "I overheard a rumor."

Gaara continued to watch him. _What does a rumor in Konoha have to do with me?_

"At first I thought it wasn't true and even found it laughable." His winced as if those were regrettable words. "I mean… Ano… Well, I knew it was true afterwards when I heard it directly from one of the Konoha Chuunin."

_Told what?_ Gaara continued to remain silent.

"She said, 'If Shikamaru is going to try to force himself on the sister of the Kazekage then he deserves what's coming to him'."

Yuei cringed when Gaara's gaze darkened. The room seemed to grow colder at his change of mood, and the gritty sound of sand could be heard inside his gourd, which was leaning against the wall in the corner. Gaara wouldn't hurt Yuei for this news, but the Sand still reacted to his anger. He remembered that name well - oh yes, he knew it – Nara Shikamaru.

"Who told you this?" he asked calmly.

"I never got her name," Yuei said quickly. "She had long blonde hair though." Gaara remembered the girl but knew nothing of her. "She didn't actually tell me," Yuei said. "She just walked by and said it out loud. She was clearly angry and I see her around the Chuunin that escorts Temari all the time. I know she's close to him. That's how I can tell that what she said was true."

Gaara watched him speculatively and the man tried to stay relaxed under his gaze.

The Nara had never seemed like the motivated type, and Gaara had never thought of him as a threat before. Still, people did unexpected things and Temari had a way of bringing those unexpected things to fruition. And if it was a matter of _forcing_ himself on Gaara's sister, let's just say that he had better hope Gaara doesn't seem him anytime soon. He wouldn't ask his sister directly if it was true, but he would definitely be gouging some sort of conclusion from her mood when she arrived home.

Gaara noticed the Jounin before him looked rather uncomfortable and so he tried his best to soften his gaze.

"Thank you," he said with a nod, signaling that he could leave. Yuei gave a short bow and left without another word. He could tell Gaara the Chuunin Exam details later.

--

Shikamaru lay on his back staring up at the stars that could be seen through the canopy. Temari was taking first watch a few feet away from him. They hadn't done much tonight past a long and hurried kiss, but Temari had pulled away and offered to take first watch. He supposed it was a good thing that they hadn't done anything more, considering their location. But Shikamaru would be lying if he said he hadn't been expecting and _wanting_ more.

_Troublesome._

--

"Shikamaru?" Temari gently shook Shikamaru's shoulder and got no response. "Shikamaru, it's your watch." Still no response. She stood up and shoved him heftily with her foot. "Shikamaru!"

He groaned. "Troublesome woman."

Pulling himself up into a sitting position, he blinked a couple of times and looked around. After letting out an exaggerated yawn and a stretch, he pushed off his sleeping bag and stood up slowly with a groan. He looked at Temari lazily.

"Is it mourning already?" he asked with another yawn.

"No, idiot," Temari put her hands on your hips. "It's your watch."

Shikamaru sat back down with a groan. "Oh, come one. We don't actually need to keep watch. There's no one around these parts."

"Shikamaru, get up you lazy ass," she huffed. "What would Gaara say if I said my escort wouldn't even keep watch for me?"

Shikamaru stood up so quickly he almost tripped on his bedroll. "Right," he said, "My watch."

He started to walk slowly away in fatigue, but Temari grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back to face her. She kissed him warmly on the lips and he instantly seemed more awake. "Thank you," she said with a teasing smile before walking away herself to roll out her bedroll.

Shikamaru smiled tiredly, rubbing the back of his neck as he watched her. He finally turned and took a position up on a branch so that if he started to fall asleep, he'd fall off and wake up. Not very practical, but he was too tired to bother thinking of anything else.

--

Gaara sat in his desk, going over some papers about trading routes with the Water country, when he heard a small rapping on his office door. He paused and looked up at the door with a sigh.

"Enter," he called. It was the night after he had heard about the Nara boy making a move on his sister, though it wasn't as late or dark. The trading routes was all he could handle at the moment, and he didn't want to deal with anybody for the fear of coming off as the cold-blooded murderer he used to be – which was how he was felt right now. He knew he had to keep busy in order to distract himself from such thoughts. Thinking up ways to torture or kill a shinobi from another village – a rich shinobi, at that – was not a very productive thing to be doing.

The ninja that often brought Gaara the messages that had been sent to Suna by bird stepped into the room.

"Gaara-sama," he said with a short bow. "I have a message from Tsunade-sama. It's a reply to your message about an escort for Temari-sama."

"Thank you," Gaara said, extending a hand to accept it. He waited until the ninja left his office before unraveling it.

_Gaara,_

_Regarding your request to send a skilled ninja to escort Temari back to Sunagakure, I have sent with her one of my most intelligent and skilled, also one who I believe Temari can trust due to their time spent together. You may remember Nara Shikamaru as the one who led the mission to assist you in rescuing your student almost three years ago. They should be arriving soon after you receive this message._

_I hope all is well in Suna,_

_Tsunade_

A cold breeze swept across the room from an open window and sand could be heard grating on the inside of a large gourd propped against the wall.

--

"At this rate," Temari said, rolling out her bedroll for the second night. "We'll be in Suna by noon tomorrow."

"Hn," Shikamaru grunted from atop yet another branch as he stared out across the vast desert in front of him. They had reached the end of the forest, and tomorrow would involve a long sprint against scorching hot sands. He had offered to take first watch tonight so that he could give Temari a bit of extra sleep. In truth he also didn't like being woken up half way through the night during a _very_ pleasant dream.

--

Temari woke Shikamaru up a few hours after sunrise. He had given her a longer sleep last night than he was supposed to so she decided letting him sleep in for a bit wouldn't hurt too much. They had also made good time of their first two days on the road so they would still be able to arrive in Suna before nightfall.

Shikamaru woke up with his usual groans and mutterings of 'troublesome' but after he had packed away his things, he was more awake.

They traveled at a high speed across the desert, and stopped twice for a rest. The first time had been to eat and drink, and the second had been because they had reached a waterhole and Shikamaru had all too eagerly stripped down to his boxers and jumped in. He had still managed to look bored and lazily as he did so, but Temari had never seen him so excited or relieved before as he sank into the cool water.

Temari rolled her eyes when he smirked up at her, as she was still standing by the edge of the small pool, before she joined him herself.

Their stay at the waterhole was questionably long. They kept throwing each other knowing smirks after they had gotten out and while they searched for particular discarded and wet clothing, and before putting on their dry clothes that hadn't entered the water.

As they neared Suna, Shikamaru showed little signs of relief, and even seemed to grow more and more irritated as they got closer. Temari ignored it as fatigue and continued on.

--

Shikamaru was finally realizing how _real_ he and Temari were. Their stop at the waterhole had been exactly what he had been craving since they left Konoha, but afterwards he had started to dread Suna and two particular ninja. He wasn't sure which one scared him more; the hot-tempered, kill-first-ask-question-later brother, or the sinister kill-without-even-asking-questions brother. Either way he wanted to be around them as little as possible.

Their passage into Suna was quick and near effortless because of Temari's presence. As soon as they were walking down the dusty and hot streets that he had rarely visited before, he decided avoidance of Temari's home would be best.

"Ano… Temari?" he asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"Yeah?"

"Can you show me where to go to send a message to Tsunade-sama? I need to tell her what my plans are," he said, sticking his hands into his pockets.

"Oh, right," Temari said, tugging on his arm to pull him along. "It's this way."

She led him down a series of streets and he could see that they were generally headed in the direction of the Kazekage's building. He groaned when he realized that he would obviously have to go into it in order to send any sort of message. Temari looked at him quizzically but then smirked at him and continued on with her arm hooked through his.

--

"So what _are_ your plans?" Temari asked casually as Shikamaru tied the note to the leg of a bird. Temari leaned against a counter with her elbow resting on top and her hip jutted out while she watched him. He had become more and more distracted and bothered ever since arriving. At fist Temari though it was the heat and he was being his usual complaining self. But when he avoided her gaze and watched the bird fly off instead, Temari narrowed her eyes.

"I'm going to go back home and then come back to escort you and Gaara to Konoha," he said slowly. "I won't be able to stay here long." Temari felt her heart sink and she hated how he could always do that to her.

"Oh, come on. It's not so bad here," she tried her best at a smile as he leaned his arms on the window frame. The bird was long gone and he had nothing left to watch, so he stole a glance at Temari. "Well how many nights are you going to stay before you leave?" she finally sighed.

"I'm not. I'm leaving tonight."

"What?!" Temari stood up straight and stared at him. "But that's ridiculous! You need to at least rest and—"

"Temari," he breathed. "Me staying here with you isn't such a good idea."

He finally pushed himself off the windowsill and turned to her. He cringed at her glare even though he had been expecting it.

"Well fine!" she almost yelled. "If I'm that _troublesome_ that you can't even spend one night here then hurry up and leave!" She turned with a huff and started to walk away.

"Temari, I don't mean it like that," he groaned. _Why do woman always have to make things so troublesome?_ "It's just…"

"It's just what?" she said, turning back with her hands on her hips. "Don't tell me it's the heat or some bullshit like that because the nights here are cold."

"No, it's not that. It's…" he trailed off again.

"What? Am I not good enough for the lazy ass Shikamaru?" she raised her voice as she spoke. "Was the sex bad? Huh? Is that it?" Shikamaru looked appalled but she continued. "My _God_ Shikamaru! What is your problem? You act like life is such a drag yet you bring all these things upon yourself!"

"I never asked you to kiss me!" he yelled back, instantly regretting it as shock swept across her face.

"So that's it? This whole thing has been an obligation to that first kiss? That didn't even mean anything!" she threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. "It was just a little fun to see your reaction! I didn't think anything would come of it!"

Shikamaru's face fell blank and he stared at her silently as she breathed heavily, more from her anger than from being out of breath. He walked past her and shoved his hands in his pockets without a word. A bystander would have recognized that gesture as boredom or laziness, but Temari recognized the forward slump in his shoulder instead of the backwards slump and the look on his face was anything but boredom.

She turned her head and then her body to watched him go. She shouted at herself in her mind to call out to him and to take it back. _That kiss did mean something. I do want to be with you. Dammit, stop walking away!_

But her anger wouldn't let her.

--

Gaara sat on his bed in a half-sleep meditation. He didn't dare sleep.

The guards at the gates had told him that his sister and her escort had arrived, but he had yet to see them. He finally sensed her presence and opened his eyes. He could see out onto his balcony and down to the street below. It was just turning to dusk when he saw Temari walking briskly down the street. Alone. She seemed to be forcing herself to act calm and Gaara watched her intently until she disappeared from view. He closed his eyes again and not a minute later, he heard the front door open downstairs – and slam shut.

His eyes flew open once more and he heard her kick off her shoes and start yelling inaudibly at Kankurou when he had walked out of the kitchen to ask why she was so angry.

Bad idea.

Gaara continued to listen as the yelling grew louder and clearer as she ascended the stairs. Gaara materialized into sand and then appeared on the upstairs landing just as Temari reached the top of the stairs and turned the corner, fuming and muttering under her breath.

"Temari," he said as calmly but as firmly as he could. She stopped for a few seconds to glare at him, then turned to her room and yanked the door open.

Before she slammed it shut behind her, leaving the hallway to rattle in the force of the vibration, Gaara heard the answer he needed in just three words:

"Damn that Shikamaru."

* * *

**Author's** **Notes:** There! You see? Gaara is not insane! He has a concrete reason for not wanting Shikamaru with his sister. As for the rumor he heard, you may remember Temari starting it herself in "Rumors." The next update will be Wednesday because it's my birthday and I said so. Even if it's really crappy and short and I have to edit it later, there WILL be an update on my birthday! Thanks for reading!  
Atty


	16. My Name Is Trouble

Okay so here's the thing: despite what many of you may have said or think, the original for this chaptered sucked-ass and was way too short and needed some serious rewriting. So for those of you who read the first version of this chapter, this new version has that in the middle of it. For those of you who haven't, there is a songfic now in the middle of this chapter. I hope this updated chapter is much better.

* * *

**My Name Is Trouble**

Kankurou stormed up the stairs after Temari, determined to give her a piece of his mind after she had taken her anger out on him. He had innocently walked out of the kitchen to find out what was so bad that she had slammed the door, and she had automatically started yelling at him to do this and that. He had, idiotically, yelled back at her in refusal and told her to calm down.

When he reached the top of the stairs, Temari's bedroom door slammed shut and he was left watching Gaara, who glared darkly at Temari's closed door.

"What the hell is her problem?" Kankurou asked him.

Gaara turned slowly to look at Kankurou, now with an emotionless face. "I don't know," he said casually, unfolding his arms and letting them drop to his sides, walking silently past Kankurou and down the stairs. Kankurou turned to watch him as he passed, then glanced back at Temari's door over his shoulder. He grimaced and walked over to it. He held up a fist to knock, hesitating and pulling his hand back. He shook his head as if to clear his worries and set a look of determination on his face. Giving two, small knocks, he called out her name.

"Temari?"

"Go away!"

Kankurou could almost see her sitting on her bed with her arms folded tightly across her chest in annoyance.

"Temari?" he tried again, this time pleadingly.

"I said beat it!" she yelled back, followed by the thud of something connecting with her door on the other side. Kankurou instinctively took a step back as if the thrown object would come through the door.

"Fine! Just stay in there!" he almost screamed. He turned sharply and trudged to his own room, shutting the door harshly behind him.

--

Gaara sighed at the noise coming from upstairs. His siblings showed their emotions so carelessly. And Kankurou had begun to care more and more about Temari, ever since she had started traveling between Suna and Konoha so frequently. Gaara found it slightly irritating because it meant that Kankurou constantly asked Gaara questions about her. He almost missed the time when the three of them didn't try to involve themselves in each others lives. At least back then he wasn't bombarded with questions and didn't have to listen to Temari yelling at Kankurou, because back then Kankurou had been smart enough to stay out of it.

Thinking back to Temari's comment on Shikamaru, he realized that if he did anything about it then he would be meddling just like Kankurou. After thinking it over and weighing the odds, he decided that he would keep a wary eye on the Nara and his shadow, and if he so much as touched Temari, Gaara would make sure he never touched anything again.

--

Temari lay in her bed, still fuming about Shikamaru. She didn't know anyone else that had ever been more infuriating! What's so bad about her that he couldn't even stay a few nights? She kept replaying everything over and over in her head to try to figure out what she might have done wrong.

After tossing about in her bed in an attempt at an early night sleep, she could only come up with one conclusion. There was something about staying that was too troublesome. But going back to Konoha only to return to Suna shortly after would be troublesome in itself, which meant his reasons for leaving were even more of a pain to him. It couldn't be the sex: she had yelled that at him to get a reaction, but really she knew he could hardly keep his hands off of her in such a situation.

So if it wasn't Temari that made things troublesome, it had to be something to do with either her or Suna. Or both. And she believed that something was two somethings, and they were named Kankurou and Gaara.

_That idiot!_ She had already told him that things would be perfectly fine with them. She hadn't realized it had bothered him so much. She supposed she could always tell Kankurou and Gaara about them; just to prove he was wrong. HA, yeah right.

But she had wanted him to stay. Oh _God_ had she wanted him to stay.

_Well I've had this secret,_

_And I feel it's time that you should know:_

_When I'm in your arms it turns me on._

She couldn't help but feel regret for not reassuring him and making some sort of noise about how she would even find a way to tell her two brothers – or rather, brother and _roommate_, as Kankurou preferred her to call him – as soon as she got the chance.

However, now she got the feeling that convincing them would be a little harder after her show this evening. Why did Shikamaru have to be so difficult? And why did she have to jump to conclusions?

_But I've got a conscience too,_

_And it says my heart's never in tune_

_With anything I do._

It was as if life was determined to be troublesome for Shikamaru, as well as anyone else who became close to him.

--

Shikamaru wandered around the hottest town he knew, still unable to believe just how hot it could get. He reached up an arm to wipe the sweat lazily off of his forehead.

"Tch. Troublesome."

After Temari's outburst the night before, he had decided it would be less awkward – not to mention troublesome – if he stayed in Suna and sorted it out sooner, rather then waiting until he came back.

He had waited, hidden in the shadows, until Temari had stormed out of the Kazekage's building, before going back to where he had sent his first message. He wrote an apology for the confusion and that it turned out he _wasn't_ leaving Suna just yet, saying that he would contact her again if things changed.

He knew once he left the Kazekage's building that he would have to find a hotel. He had no idea where Temari lived and didn't even consider looking for her. And he also couldn't ask the Kazekage because… well, his fear of the Kazekage was partly the reason that the whole fight with Temari had started.

Yes, Shikamaru was scared of her brothers.

_I've had this secret,_

_And now it's time that you should know:_

_I was wrong to string you along._

He stuffed his hands in his pockets, trying to ignore the sweat gathering at the back of his neck because of the insanely hot collar of his Chuunin vest. The thick and uncomfortable material wasn't doing much good for the rest of his body either. The heat and sweat made thoughts of Temari cross his mind, which made him even warmer, and that was not a good thing.

He squinted against the sunlight, as if in hopes that it would douse the heat, and turned down a less busy street.

_Circulating the streets in the pulsing heat;_

_I scoured your town, completely aroused._

_And making love to your memory._

He saw what looked like a dark and cool café to his left, and decided grabbing a seat in an air-conditioned restaurant where he could relax and take off his Chuunin vest was very appealing.

--

Temari sat in her kitchen, eating a salad that she had whipped out of nothing, ignoring every complaint and urge in her body as she tried to resist going after Shikamaru. Whether she wanted to kiss or kill him, she wasn't quit sure.

That was something she'd have to decide once he had made his way back to Suna.

--

Shikamaru dug into the salad he had ordered, relishing the cold air and throwing a relieved glance at the Chuunin vest on the booth beside him. His only plan at the moment was to wander around town, possibly ask a few, casual questions, and ultimately hope to run into Temari. As much as he regretted his original choice to go right home, he still had no idea how he would be able to prevent a way too troublesome encounter if and when he did find her.

--

--

_Sad minion of mine,_

_Don't be so unkind._

--

--

Gaara sat behind his desk in his office, going over the report that Yuei had given him about the Chuunin Exams.

Three weeks.

Three weeks, and Shikamaru would be returning to escort him and a few of his elite Jounin to Konoha for the exams. Two of those Jounin would be his brother and sister. So it would be three weeks until Gaara would be able to decide if Shikamaru was a threat or not. And if he tried anything suspicious on they're way to Konoha, Gaara might have to explain an _accident_ about why their escort wasn't with them once they arrived.

He'll be damned if he has to deal with him before then.

--

Kankurou walked out of his house in a huff. After another attempt to leech some information out of Temari about her current mood, he had gained nothing but a bruised arm. Instead of fishing a decent lunch out of the fridge, he had left her to finish her lunch alone.

He didn't understand how the last time she had been home, she was so happy, and now she was so angry. Gaara didn't seem to know anything, and he even seemed unbothered by it – but Kankurou new better.

If he had been able to think clearly passed his anger over Temari, who didn't even realize he was asking because he cared, he might have remembered what she had told him almost two weeks ago. She had said that Shikamaru and she were getting along better, and she had been exceedingly happy when mentioning it. And then Kankurou might have been able to piece together that Shikamaru was the very reason she was no longer in that state of felicity.

But for now he didn't know.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** I do hope that I'm not dragging this story out too much. I'm getting close to the end though (I think) so bare with me for now. All I write has siginifcance, you just haven't figured it out yet : P ... or maybe you have? Anyway I hope this turned out better than my first try! 


	17. Out in the Town

I'm sorry. I have no excuse.  
It's been a while, ne?  
Well this is a slightly longer chapter than usual so I hope that helps.  
P.S. Chapter 16 has been significantly updated if you did not already know.

* * *

**Out in the Town**

Temari left the house in the heat of the afternoon to restock the fridge. Apparently her brothers had no idea how to do so. Her mood was slightly improved when she had gone upstairs to check on her plant. It looked completely healthy and content. It seemed that Kankurou actually managed to remember to feed it this time. She wanted to thank him, but he hadn't returned since she had punched him in the arm. It might have been unnecessary to lash out at him like that, but the guy didn't know when to layoff.

So she supposed she needed to thank both of her brothers; Kankurou for feeding her plant and Gaara for not telling Kankurou her regretful comment last night. She could only imagine what sinister and dreadful thoughts had gone through Gaara's head when she had let it slip. She believed he was too sane now to lash out at anyone for it, including Shikamaru, but she knew he would be more wary around the lazy Chuunin now.

She let out a heaving sigh and readjusted the fan strapped to her back, then stepped inside a cool food store.

--

Shikamaru glanced through the shelves of a food store, looking for something that he could get as a suitable snack. He'd been wandering around Suna the whole afternoon with no luck of finding Temari. The sky was beginning to grow dark and he was running out of ideas. With a sigh and a shrug he decided on some chips, causing him to smile at the thought of what Chouji would say if he knew Shikamaru had chosen them himself. He quickly paid up at the front and made his way back to the streets.

--

Temari had chosen various vegetables and was now examining a reddish fruit for bruises. She put it in her basket, and then picked up another to check. Deciding against it and putting it back down only to pick up yet another, she continued checking them until she had enough that met her criteria.

Moving down another aisle, she snatched a bag of chips off the shelf for Kankurou as an intended thank you for feeding her plant. She turned to head to the other end of the row and her grip loosened on her basket as her eyes opened in shock. Her grip retightened as she felt herself running back out onto the street, her eyes frantically searching for her target.

She faltered when a man roughly grabbed onto her arm and spun her back around.

"You have to pay for that!" he said, pointing to her basket and its contents. She looked into the face of the store manager apologetically and quickly pulled some money out of her obi.

"Oh, sorry," she muttered as she counted it out. "I just… thought I saw someone… I knew… sorry. Here, keep the change." She shoved some money into his hands and turned back around to look for the black, pineapple style haircut, only to find it had been lost in the crowd.

--

Shikamaru found himself searching the streets once again, only this time his hand was stuck in a potato chip bag. He glanced to a smaller street to the side with tall enough buildings that it was providing shade at this time of day. Before he made the decision, he found his feet already directing him to the refuge from the sun.

--

A frustrated Temari walked down a dusty street, hardly aware of her surroundings as she chastised her heart for causing a shortness of breath when thought she had seen him. Searching from side to side as if to assure herself that he wasn't there, she looked down the shaded street to her side and then behind. Glancing back around, and pausing on the shaded street, she shrugged and walked away.

--

Shikamaru sighed as he threw the empty chip bag into a garbage can. He put is hands behind him on the small of his back and leaned backwards to stretch out his aching muscles. Standing up straight and shaking it off, he shoved his hands into his pockets and continued his lazy walk around Suna.

--

Kankurou sat at the kitchen table, finishing off his soup, when he heard the front door open and recognized the sounds of Temari slipping off her shoes and heading for the kitchen. He tensed when she walked in, and she glanced at him before setting her shopping basket on the table. Without a word she began to rummage through it, and he heard the familiar sound of crinkling aluminum as she brought out a bag of chips and threw it at him.

He grunted when it made sudden contact with his face and he hastily grabbed it before it fell to the floor. He glared at Temari, detecting the smallest hint of a smile - he wasn't sure whether or not if it was humor.

"For feeding my plant," she said, as if that explained everything. She then turned and headed back out of the kitchen. "Oh," she said, sticking her head back around the door. "And you can put all of that stuff away."

Kankurou's suspicious glare turned into a scoff as he continued to stare at the spot where her head had been. He finally stood with a growl and put his empty bowl in the sink, then picked up his chips and started to head defiantly out of the kitchen. He hesitated at the door and glanced back at the shopping basket on the table.

He groaned and spun around, walking over to it and setting his chips next to it solemnly. He rubbed his hands over his face in an attempt to rid himself of some of his stress before taking the first of the groceries out of the basket to put away.

He really didn't like it when Temari was mad at him.

--

Shikamaru had finally asked a passerby directly if they knew where Temari lived. He now stood in front of the house he had been directed to, staring at it up and down, trying to figure out if he had been tricked. It wasn't big or expensive or luxurious – at least not on the outside – and there was a house on either side, not twenty feet away. It was big compared to the surrounding houses, but it looked more like a wealthy commoner's house than that of the children of the fourth Kazekage, not to mention one of the siblings was now the _current_ Kazekage.

He let out a long sigh and turned to head back into the main town in hopes of finding a better resource than a gangly old lady.

--

Temari sat on her bed, leaning against the wall it was pushed up against and staring lazily out the window onto the street below. She found that her restless sleep from the night before was starting to weigh down on her. He eyelids were beginning to droop, and just as she was about to give in to their heaviness, they shot open as if her tired thoughts hadn't existed. She sat up straight and looked more closely out of the window to see someone in a Chuunin vest, with his black hair tied back to resemble a pineapple, walking away.

She shot up so fast that her ninja abilities were kicking in as she crashed out into the hall and hurried down the stairs. She ripped open the front door and rushed onto the street, forgetting her shoes and all other things she normally brought with her as she ran down the street after him. She just managed to glimpse that familiar lazy-slouch-hands-in-pocket look before he turned a corner. She reached the corner quickly and didn't slow when she rounded it; soon finding herself sprawled on the ground next to a man she had just run into.

"Sorry," she said in agitation, and jumped up, looking around frantically and ignoring the man on the ground.

"Oi!" he called to her in frustration as he pushed himself off the ground. "Watch where you're going!"

After she realized she had lost him, Temari turned on the man and glared at him, her excitement turning quickly to anger.

"Excuse me?" she said to him viciously. The man's face suddenly became fearful as if realizing a mistake.

"T-terrible s-sorry, Temari-sama," he stuttered. "It was my fault; all mine." He turned hurriedly and ran off without waiting for a response.

"I have to say I'm glad it wasn't me you shoved to the ground," a teasing voice said behind her. She spun around to face the pineapple-haired Chuunin smirking at her.

"It could be arranged," she hissed as she glared at Shikamaru. He continued to smirk at her, but his face turned to confusion when he took in her dusty and frazzled appearance.

"Where are your shoes?"

Temari felt her heavy breathing slow and she glanced down at her feet. She automatically reached for her fan to whack him on the head, but remembered she had forgotten it. Looking back up at Shikamaru with a smirk, she quickly closed the few feet between them, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him harshly. She got the surprised reaction she had been wanting as his elbows bent when his hands came out of his pockets and his eyes flew open. It was hardly a second's movement. As soon as he started to kiss her back, she pulled away and smacked both her her fists against his chest.

He drew back with a grunt and she hit him a few more times to let out her frustration.

"What are you doing here? In fact, why did you leave? What's so horrible about us that you just had to go? Huh? I've been going mad all day because I kept seeing you everywhere! And now you're here and all you can say is 'Where are you shoes?'?! How insensitive are you?!" Temari rushed the words and questions out of her mouth. She would have kept hitting him, but he had backed against a wall and held her wrists tightly. It was just like all of their other fights: Temari attacked and Shikamaru subdued her. His face had held a sort of shocked fear at first, but he then resided to rolling his eyes.

"I'm sorry."

"Huh?"

"I never left," Shikamaru sighed and let go of her wrists. She let them fall to her sides and he rubbed the back of his neck, looking away. "Tch. Troublesome. Look…" He let his hand drop and he turned back to her. "About what I said yesterday…" He drew in a slow breath and rocked on his feet once. It was obvious that he'd rather avoid this troublesome subject. "I guess it can't be helped," he muttered under his breath more to himself and almost inaudibly to Temari.

"What I mean is…" Temari waited patiently, hiding her amusement at his discomfort as best she could. "I'm… glad that you kissed me." He said it casually and watched Temari out of the corner of his eye as if bracing himself for the worst.

"Well," she answered slowly with a cheeky grin. "Then I guess that kiss wasn't _completely_ meaningless."

Shikamaru visibly relaxed and turned to her with a smirk. "Is that all I get?"

"Heh," Temari put her hands on her hips. "Well what were you expecting? An apology?"

"That's what I got, isn't it?"

"Oh, aren't you the modest one?"

"You're troublesome," Shikamaru teased, pretending to look away in boredom.

"Yes, and you're a—"

"Lazy ass?" he turned back with a smirk.

Temari glared at him in a half smile. "Well, I see you're as sharp as ever."

"Tch."

"So why did you leave?" Temari asked, sobering her face.

"I didn't leave," Shikamaru shrugged.

"You know what I mean."

"You're pretty sharp yourself," he said with a long, drawn out sigh as he watched people pass by. "You've probably already figured it out."

"Shikamaru," Temari began. "Do you really think my brothers would be so controlling over my life?"

Silence.

"And do you really think I'd let them control me?"

Shikamaru turned back to her. "Where do you live?"

"Huh?"

"Where do you live?" he repeated. "I followed someone's directions to your house this afternoon, but they made a mistake. I had to stay at a moth-eaten hotel last night and, as your guest, you should provide better hospitality. I'm sure you have a lot of spare rooms at your estate."

"As a matter of fact, I don't," she glared at him as he seemed to be unaware of his rudeness. "But who said anything about needing a spare bedroom?"

Shikamaru quirked an eyebrow at her suggestive comment, then shrugged. "I just don't think your brothers would be too happy about me staying with you in your room."

Temari rolled her eyes and grabbed him by the hand before pulling him back along the street the way she had come.

"Oi!"

"Shut up, idiot."

She pulled him back around the corner and down the street until they were standing in front of her house. She walked up to the door, opened it, and motioned for Shikamaru to walk in ahead of her. He merely stood there in disbelief. Instead of shock, it was more of an amused disbelief.

"I guess it wasn't a mistake," he finally muttered to himself before walking in. She went in after him as he stepped out of his shoes and looked around.

"What's the matter?" she asked, elbowing him lightly in the ribs. She could tell that he had been expecting some sort of grand estate with large gardens and fountains, and a huge entrance way along with many more floors high. In truth, Gaara had chosen for them to move into a smaller house than the late Kazekage had owned, after he became Kazekage himself. He was offered a place to live at the Kazekage's mansion, but he preferred staying in a real house as part of the town. It had been hard enough for Suna to accept him at first, and so not living in royalty had helped him to feel more a part of what he protected.

Naturally, his siblings had come with him.

This house was more like what a rich commoner would own.

"Nothing," he shrugged, covering his mouth with his hand to hide a yawn.

Temari smiled at him knowingly and poked him in the side. He grunted and bent slightly away from her as she knew he would. Her smile turned into a smirk and she walked passed him towards the kitchen.

"Tch. Troublesome woman."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Thoughts? Suggestions? Constructive critisism? I hope they're still in character for it has been a while. I apologize again for the long delay. The next chapter shouldn't take as long. Thanks for being so patient with me! Reviews are love-love-loved :)  
Atty 


	18. Threats

Ohmigosh, update! Woot! I know I know... It's been another long while... I'm horrible. But here's the thing: I'm psyyyyyyched!!! Why? Because the end of this chapter finally holds what I had written before I even wrote the first chapter of this story. This is my inspiration! This is what I've been builiding up to! Kinda sad, actually. But it's not all of it. No, I had to be cruel and make a cliff-hanger so the rest of it will be in the next update. But just a warning: A lot of you will probably hate me for this cliffhanger... teehee. Well, maybe not. But enjoy!

* * *

**Threats**

Temari walked into her kitchen and immediately started grabbing things out of cupboards and the fridge to prepare a decent super. Shikamaru trudge in slowly after her and took a seat at the table.

"So what's for dinner?"

"Stir fry," she said between opening cupboards.

"I'd help, but I don't know how to cook," he said, shifting the weight of his chin to his hand.

"Heh, more like you're too lazy," she said, pausing to look at him knowingly.

"Either way, I won't be good at it."

"Well," Temari began, taking two cutting boards down from a shelf, and walking over to him. "You can either help me cut the vegetables," she went on, placing one of the cutting boards in front of him and watching him grimace. "Or," she said as if it wasn't really an option anyway. "You can sit in the living room and wait for Gaara to get home so you can greet him at the door."

Temari made no effort to hide her amused smile as Shikamaru picked up a knife and drew the cutting board closer. As funny as it was that he seemed so terrified of her youngest brother, it was all the more entertaining knowing that Gaara didn't even use the front door. He merely used his sand to dissolve home and then up to his room, where he waited until supper and dissolved down to the dinning room table. It made her brother seem lazier than Shikamaru at times.

Temari considered the assortment of vegetables she had selected and quickly decided on handing Shikamaru the onion.

"You really are a cruel, troublesome woman, you know that?" he grumbled, taking the onion and chopping it in half. Temari merely held her amusement and set to work on chopping up the rest. By the time Shikamaru had cut up the onion, Temari had finished with everything else. Granted he had taken his time, but he hadn't done a half bad job.

Throwing some of their handiwork into the already oiled and sizzling wok, Shikamaru quickly found an excuse to escape the kitchen.

"Where's your bathroom?" he asked.

"Down the hall, third door on your right," Temari said, nodding to one of the various doors leaving the kitchen. Shikamaru nodded and pocketed his hands, and then went on to manage leaving the kitchen quickly, while still maintaining his lazy demeanor.

He headed through the hallway and counted three doors down. Though it had been an excuse to get out of any other work Temari had been thinking of for him, he really did have to go. By the time he had washed his hands, he turned the water to cold and cupped his hands under the faucet so he could clean the grim and heat off of his face.

He stepped back into the hallway and headed for the kitchen, only to stop in front of the door.

"I'm going out, Temari," said a deep, gruff voice from the other side of the door. "I won't be back until later."

Shikamaru heard shuffling before Temari spoke. "Well aren't you at least staying for supper?"

"No, I'm eating out," was the only reply as Shikamaru heard a door open on the other side of the kitchen. "See you later."

Shikamaru heard Temari huff. "Well at least Shikamaru will be happy," she muttered.

Shikamaru smirked, staying on his side of the door. Sure, he had been hoping that dinner with Temari's brothers would remove suspicions and perhaps start a civil relationship, but he was perfectly fine with delaying the encounter.

"How's it coming," he asked, finally stepping back into the kitchen. He had lived with his mother long enough to know that asking 'How much longer?' or 'Is it ready yet?' would not end well. His choice of words this time weren't much better, but at least they were more of a question than a complaint.

"About ten minutes," Temari answered, moving the contents in the wok around viciously with a spatula. "Kankurou's gone out."

"What does that mean?" I asked casually.

"You're the genius," she said rigidly. "You figure it out."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow suggestively at her back, his eyes traveling south. "Well what about Ga—I mean the Kazekage?"

"I don't know," she sighed. "He'll probably be back late again. He doesn't sleep much anyway."

--

Speak of the devil – literally. Gaara had decided to walk home for once, and once he reached his home, he resigned to his overused jutsu and disappeared in a cloud of sand, to reappear inside in front of the stairs. He had hardly put his foot on the first step before a foreign voice was heard from the kitchen.

--

"I guess it's just the two of us then."

Temari spun around to Shikamaru with a don't-even-think-about-it-glare. "Get your head out of the gutter."

--

Gaara walked slowly and methodically towards the slightly ajar door leading into the kitchen.

"Tch. Why are you suddenly so…" Gaara heard the unmistakable drawl of Shikamaru trail off.

"So what?" Temari snapped.

"Ah, troublesome woman," the drawling voice muttered.

_What is he doing here?_ Gaara's gaze darkened and he was half aware of a small gritting sound coming from inside his gourd. He put two fingers over one of his eyes and made the seal for the Third Eye with the other hand. His sand quickly responded and wove into the kitchen to reform above and behind Shikamaru. He was sitting at the table, watching Temari work over the stove and resting his chin lazily on his hand.

"Well if you didn't think about bedding me every waking moment of your day, we might actually be able to have a decent supper together."

Gaara narrowed his eyes into further darkness.

There was a huff for a response and then silence. Apparently Shikamaru had chosen the smart choice and had stopped arguing with Temari.

"Look, Shikamaru." Temari finally broke the silence and stopped what she was doing. She continued talking as she started to turn to face him. "I just want to prove to you that—"

She sucked in a breath when she noticed the eye floating just above and behind Shikamaru's head. Gaara remained calm as she took a turn to narrow her eyes. She quickly regained her composure, but Shikamaru had noticed.

"What?" he asked, more about why she had tensed than what she had been about to say.

He slowly started to turn around as Temari said, "It's nothing," but Gaara had already released the jutsu by the time Shikamaru had turned.

--

Shikamaru shrugged and turned back to her. 'What do you want to prove?"

"Could you give me a moment?" Temari asked through a sudden smile. Shikamaru eyed her cautiously, but before waiting for an answer, she had already passed by him and out one of the doors. It shut behind her and he heard her walking away down the hall.

--

"Gaara!" Temari hissed as she headed down the hall, letting the pops and sizzles coming from the kitchen fade away. "Gaara!"

She turned a corner to see him standing at the bottom of the staircase with his arms crossed malevolently over his chest.

"Just what do you think you're trying to pull?" she said in another hiss, putting her hands on her hips in annoyance.

Gaara merely watched her in silence.

"When did you get home? How long where you listening? And what were you _thinking_?! Kankurou's the one that gets into my personal life, not you! Since when did you start? That _eye_ is meant for gathering information on missions, not for spying on your siblings. I don't know why you even bothered using it, but would it have killed you to just come into the kitchen and—"

"Why is he here?" Gaara asked tonelessly.

Temari huffed. "He's the one that escorted me back to Suna; on _your_ request, by the way."

"I thought he left," Gaara said almost too quickly.

"So did I," Temari said in slight exasperation. "But what does that matter?"

"If he tries anything on you while he's here, he might not find himself heading home," he said indifferently.

"What?!" Temari's eyes widened at her youngest brother. "Where is that coming from?"

"It wouldn't be the first time for him to try something."

Temari studied Gaara's face, her eyes switching back and forth between his own two in confusion. _How could he know? And why would it matter? It's not like—Oh._ Temari's eyes stopped their frantic searching in sudden recognition. _But how did that rumor reach Suna? And so quickly?_ She ran through her thoughts desperately trying to find a way to explain. But it wasn't like she could just say she made it up. Then she would have to explain why. And maybe go on to explain in more detail about her and Shikamaru's current relationship. To her brother? And the current Kazekage, no less. Yeah right.

"Look, Gaara," she began, finally settling on a decision. "I don't know what you've heard, but Shikamaru hasn't 'tried' anything on me." She used air quotes on 'tried' and then went on to roll her eyes. "Besides, you're the Kazekage and the last thing you need is for Suna to think the Kazekage has lashed out at a shinobi from another village without a sufficient reason. Not to mention what the village of that shinobi would think. I can take care of myself."

Without waiting for a reply, or even a change in expression, Temari spun around and turned the corner to the kitchen.

Before ascending quietly to the floor above, Gaara took in his sister's words. It was true that she wasn't easily overpowered. But who knows what decisions she might make in the heat of the moment. If it came to that however, it probably was good idea to remember his place as Kazekage and let Kankurou be Kankurou when it came to Temari's personal life.

--

When Temari reached the kitchen door, she quickly gathered herself so Shikamaru wouldn't question her and headed in. He turned to face her from his place at the table to see her staring in stupor. The table was set and the stir fry had been finished and was now on the table in a proper serving bowl. The stove was turned off and the wok was in the sink.

He smirked triumphantly at her reaction. "You took your time."

"Y-you… You did this?" she stammered disbelievingly. "There's no way. You're too lazy. Why?"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," he said complacently. She moved around the table to sit across from him, letting her face relax to a casual look. "It may be troublesome to cook, but it's worse eating burnt food because the cook left the kitchen with the stove on."

"Hmph," Temari gave him an annoyed look. "So you _did_ do it?"

Shikamaru shrugged slyly and offered the serving tongs to Temari. She stared at him agitatedly and took the tongs without looking away from him. She gave him one more glance over to detect his amusement before turning to the serving bowl and helping herself.

--

"Considering you 'don't know how to cook'," Temari said after she had finished eating and pushed her plate away. "That didn't taste completely awful."

He was about to ignore the sarcastic compliment, when his own came to mind. "Considering you always cook, the burnt taste wasn't completely unappetizing."

"You should be more careful about what you say," she said, letting herself up from the table and heading towards the door she had left through earlier. "You could end up sleeping on the couch again."

"Heh," Shikamaru muttered a 'troublesome' under his breath and got up from the table as well. For a split second he considered suggesting cleaning up, but then remembered he was lazy and figured they had a maid for that anyway.

He followed Temari out of the same door and saw her turn a corner. He reached the corner lazily and turned it to see her heading up a flight of stairs. He let a habitual smirk fall over his face as he went up after her and came out on the next landing.

"You're certainly taking your time," Temari said irritably from a few doors down. He turned to her and walked over – maintaining his slow stride to vex her. Just as he reached her she turned into a room and left the door open for him to follow.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that it was her bedroom. It was a lot smaller than he thought it would be, though. Her bed was bigger than his, but it wasn't some grand, four-poster king-size in the middle of a huge room. It was a cozy room, but not as small or cramped as Shikamaru's. And her larger yet not huge bed was pushed up against the wall under a window.

He didn't bother to take in anymore of his surroundings, and instead shut the door behind him and went to Temari, quickly finding her mouth with his. She accepted him for a short moment before pushing him away with amusement.

"I think this proves my earlier point," she said teasingly.

"Shut up, troublesome woman."

He didn't waste time closing the distance between their lips once more, and forcing her to step backward until her legs hit the bed, and her knees bent, causing her to fall backwards and bringing Shikamaru down with her. It wasn't long before sweat-soaked clothing was removed and forgotten.

--

Kankurou mumbled grudgingly under his breath. He had needed a release from his house this evening due to an unexplained feeling of suffocation. His sudden mood had caused him to be curt with Temari, and he was starting to regret it. Granted, they weren't always going to be in good moods with each other, but they had grown closer in the past few years. Every little spat they had now made some part of him wish it hadn't happened. And anyone who came between them was an instant threat.

It had all started just over two years back when Naruto had defeated Gaara and shown him that having friends to love and protect made you stronger than when you loved only yourself. This had also brought Kankurou closer to Gaara, and so people who came between them were also a threat – but his closeness with Gaara was different. Then again, everything with Gaara was different.

His night out hadn't exactly gone as planned. The food he had ordered was burnt and had ruined is appetite, which meant he hadn't eaten much and was now in a fowl mood as a result. And after spilling water on his shoe, he was not in the mood to be confronted with any problems.

He trudged home as the sky grew darker with every passing minute. By the time he reached the street that held his home, there was a small red hue on the horizon.

--

When Kankurou walked through the front door, he was met by Gaara, standing hardly five feet away, arms folded calmly across his chest. The cold stare he gave Kankurou could easily have been mistaken for a bloodlust to kill him, however Kankurou had come to understand his younger brother's facial expressions, and saw the angry concern hidden beneath.

"What?" Kankurou said gruffly. "What do you want? What's the problem?"

Gaara merely nodded his head towards the stairs, and disappeared in a slow whirlwind of sand. Kankurou understood and climbed the stairs to find Gaara standing exactly as he had been downstairs, only now just outside Temari's bedroom door. Kankurou walked towards him, a bit frustrated at his lack of explanation, even though he should be used to it by now.

"What is it?" he asked, and Gaara nodded his head towards Temari's door without changing his expression. "What? You want me to go in? Why? Heh. She'd just beat the crap—"

He stopped short as he heard what had made Gaara so withdrawn – anger flashing across his facing like deadly fire. "That bastard!" he growled, as he grabbed the handle, threw the door open and stormed in.

* * *

**Auhour's Notes:** ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 0:) ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 


	19. Ironic Misconceptions

I think it's safe to say that the majority of my fic is done. If any of you are wondering how much of my story is left, I would guestimate about five chapters. Maybe less, maybe more. Anyway, I just thought some would want to know :) I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations of what might of happened.

**

* * *

**

**Ironic Misconeptions**

As they both found their release, Temari and Shikamaru were vaguely aware of the door slamming open. Temari wasn't even given a chance to register what was happening before she was ripped off of Shikamaru as sand engulfed all but his face, lifting him into the air. Kankurou was holding onto her arm so tightly it hurt, and Gaara's hand was outstretched, his fist ready to close.

"Gaara, wait!" she cried out, and he spared her a glance before quickly looking the other way with a rare look of embarrassment across his face.

"Ah, shit!" Kankurou dropped her arm as if he'd cut himself on sharp glass and grabbed a blanket from her bed, wrapping it furiously around her exposed, naked body. Realization crossed her face, and then turned into wide open eyes staring blankly ahead. She slid to the floor, covering her head in her knees with embarrassment. Her shoulders began to shake and would-be sobs escaped her lips. She choked them back, lifting her head as she tried to regain herself. As she stared at the floor, eyes open as if in fear from her hyperventilation, the three sand siblings seemed to have forgotten Shikamaru in the awkward situation.

"Please," she said through convulsive gasps, almost inaudibly. "Gaara… stop."

Gaara, who had been watching her with the smallest hint of regret in his expressionless face, looked down at the floor, lowering his arm as the sand lowered Shikamaru back onto the bed, unfurling itself as it did so. Then Gaara turn round and strode out the room without a word.

As Shikamaru tugged a sheet around his waist, he saw Kankurou kneel beside Temari and tentatively put an arm around her shaking shoulders, her head reburied in her knees. She shrugged him off viciously and continued to sob without any tears. Shikamaru didn't move, fearing that the danger had not yet passed. Drawing back, Kankurou stood up and looked at Temari helplessly.

"Temari…" he began softly. When she made no recognition that she had heard him, he looked sharply at Shikamaru with murderous intent burning in his eyes. Shikamaru's heart began to pound in his chest and his forehead began to feel wet with sweat. But Kankurou merely turned and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him so hard that a bottle fell off of Temari's dresser and smashed onto the floor.

Shikamaru sat on the edge of the bed, his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, listening as Temari tried to suppress her short intakes of breaths. He rubbed his face in his hands and tried not to groan.

_Troublesome. _Bed sheet still crudely wrapped around his waist, he stood from the bed and went to her, crouching as Kankurou had, and attempting to wrap his arm around her shoulder. This time, instead of pushing him away like she had Kankurou, she fell against him and gave in to a few tears of embarrassment and anger.

"They just… they just…" She tried to talk, as if she needed to explain why she was in her current state.

Putting a leg on either side of her, Shikamaru leaned against the wall and held her in his arms until her breathing steadied and her involuntary shaking was finally suppressed. He waited until she lifted her head and sat with her legs drawn under her, trying to breathe calmly. She wiped one of her cheeks with her hand as if to get rid of any proof that something had made Temari of the Desert cry.

"I'm going to kill them," she muttered menacingly under her breath. "The _nerve_ of those two." _Even Kankurou is hard to believe, and he's the one who doesn't know when to mind his own business! But _Gaara "I'm going to kill them. I'm going to castrate them. I'm going to dismember them. I'm going to…" Temari continued to mutter quietly to herself and Shikamaru was starting to feel uncomfortable.

After her initial shock, Temari had finally become her violent self again. This was a good thing because it meant she hadn't been traumatized or anything like that, as Shikamaru had half-worried about when she had given into crying, but now he was trying to bore into his memory to never upset her.

"Ano," Shikamaru began, wary of her turning on him but also wanting her to snap out of it. She suddenly stopped and turned to him as if she'd forgotten he was there. "Somehow," he said teasingly, trying to lighten the mood. "Saying 'I told you so' just doesn't cut it."

"Oh, shut up Shikamaru," she shot at him, standing up and throwing aside the blanket so she could get dressed.

Shikamaru stood up as well with a groan and started grabbing his own disheveled clothing off the floor. He walked over to her dresser to retrieve his shirt and he was suddenly aware of the strong smell of perfume. He wrinkled his noise from the strength of it and spotted the broken bottle on the floor near the door – it was the one that had fallen when Kankurou had slammed the door.

"Temari," he said, picking up the biggest piece which still had the top attached and he could make out the name of it along the side. Temari turned to him and walked over, tying her obi around her waste. She took it from him with a grim face. After looking it over, she glanced past it to the mess on the floor with a sigh. Shikamaru watched her and she finally looked at him with that same grim look.

"It was my mother's," she said flatly. Shikamaru was about to say something consoling when her face became blank and she threw the large piece of glass into a trash bin without another word. She walked back over to her bed and grabbed four hair ties off her bedside table. She held them between her teeth and reached behind her head to start putting her hair back up in her four, short signature pony tails.

"Wait here," was all she said as she walked passed him again and opened the door. She stepped into the hall and shut the door heavily behind her.

--

"Gaara? Gaara! I know you're in there!"

Temari banged on Gaara's bedroom door. She could hear the sound of sand grating inside which alerted her to the presence of her brother. The grating sand probably had something to do with anger, regret and frustration.

Temari had chosen to deal with Gaara first for three reasons. One, he had been the one to directly attack Shikamaru and also the one who had listened to her when she had cried out. Two, where Gaara was usually the bringer of fear and caution, Kankurou was hot-tempered and impulsive – also, Gaara's personality change meant he wouldn't even consider attacking a sibling… Well, he might attack Kankurou – but anyway. The third reason was that Kankurou had left the house, which overall made Gaara the easier target at the moment.

"Gaara! Open up, dammit! What the hell do you think you were _doing_ back there, huh?" she paused to huff in annoyance before resuming thumping on the door. "If you don't answer me, I'm forcing my way in!"

Silence.

"That's it!" Temari stormed back to her room and ripped the door open to retrieve her fan. She was not even two steps inside when she felt her body tense and she started to crouch down against her will. No sooner had she started to mirror Shikamaru's stance than she was released from the jutsu and stood up straight again.

"What the hell was that for?" she shot at Shikamaru, who was standing back up hesitantly.

"I was keeping an eye on the door," he shrugged. When she didn't answer he continued, "In case it was one of your brothers."

Temari made an agitated noise and muttered something about, "Obviously me," before grabbing her fan that was propped against the wall and leaving the room once again, being sure to shut the door behind her. "Honestly," she breathed out.

Reaching Gaara's bedroom door, she unfurled her fan and readied it for a less powerful attack. "Here goes."

"Temari."

Temari jumped and turned to her side to locate the voice, bringing her fan with her incase she felt like attacking. Gaara stood a few feet in front of her now, traces of sand on the floor.

"Just what do you think you're trying to pull?" Temari hissed at him.

Gaara did nothing but watch her.

She found herself breathing heavily and so she took a moment to calm herself and strapped her fan to her back.

"Gaara," she tried again. Without really knowing what to say without coming across as harsh or getting angry again, she settled on a simple word. "Why?"

"He can't be trusted," was Gaara's simple reply.

"Can't be…? Trusted?! Gaara, you want to talk about trust? What about trusting me to be able to handle myself, huh?" Her eyes grew wide with disbelief and put a hand on her hip, using the other to point and wave around. "What about our discussion earlier? I though we agreed that I could handle myself. Since when have you ever cared about my personal life? Who I date is my business. I expect a kind of stunt like that from Kankurou, not you!" After rushing statements and questions out of her mouth without an interruption, she finally paused and stared at her brother, waiting for an answer.

He said nothing.

"Honestly, Gaara. Just explain your motives to me at least! Did Kankurou put you up to it? Has Shikamaru done or said something to you that I don't know about? Because it would be great if you could shed some light on the situation.

"Kankurou…" he said, almost cutting her off. "Did not put me up to it. It was my decision." His gaze darkened, taking Temari's comment as an insult to his abilities to act on his own.

"Then why, Gaara? Why?" Temari said, holding both hands out in front of her as if pleading for an answer. "It's the one part of my life that I can call my own, and you had to walk in on us—of all things. I don't think I've ever been more embarrassed in my life! You could have picked any other situation, or at _least_ waited until we were finished before launching an attack like that. It's not like I was getting raped! You could at least tell me why then, of all times."

Gaara hesitated. "You're being taken for granted."

Temari took a turn to be silent.

Gaara hesitated again. "Word reached me from Konoha," he went on. "From someone who had been there during the Chuunin Exams." Temari looked at him quizzically and so he went on. "I was told that the Nara boy had been forcing himself on you. If you've been giving in, then I wasn't going to take any chances"

Temari stared at him, at first her face holding no emotion. He watched her as her face changed from a blank slate, to confusion, to recognition, to disbelief, and then to… amusement? It started as a smile on her face, and it turned into a grin. Then Gaara heard a low rumbling from the back of her throat that turned into a chuckle. He stared at her, unsure of how to react as her chuckle grew into light laughter. It quickly escalated into a full blown laugh that made her bend over slightly and grab her sides. Gaara stared at her, waiting for her fit to subside, and unsure whether or not if she had lost her sanity. He started to take a cautious step toward her, but stopped when her laughter came to a dead stop. She stood up straight and walked right up to his face, holding a stiff finger between them, pointed at his face.

"I should use my fan on you." She took a step back and reached behind her, placing a hand ready on the top of her fan. The other hand was held away from her body as she fell into stance for an attack.

Gaara crossed his arms tightly in front of his chest and glared at her. "I demand an explanation."

"Oh, so now you're demanding?" Temari asked mockingly as she stood up straight. When Gaara continued to glare, she huffed and rested her weight on one foot. "I started that rumor, Gaara." She rolled her eyes at the bewilderment on his face, though he hid it well. "In fact, I only told that to Anko to get back at Shikamaru for trying to get _rid_ of me. So if that's really the only excuse you have, you better apologize to him."

With that, she turned on her heel and started to walk casually back to her room without waiting for a response or reaction. With a sudden thought, she smirked and came to a stop, cocking her head to the side to feed one last bit of information to her brother.

"The ironic thing is, that rumor is true but it's the other way around," she said with a mischievous smile, before leaving Gaara behind to stare quizzically at her back.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **The next chapter will, or course, be Temari going off at Kankurou... Many of you may be thinking the confrontation with Gaara should have been last. But where's the fun in that if you, as readers, already know Gaara's Reason? touche... Anyway the argument in this chapter was bit hard to work out, so I hope they were in character and believable. If they're not, suggestions would be wonderous. 


	20. Ironic Truth

Okay, so here it finally is. Today is a special day because it's my failful reviewer, ninjutsumaster7's, birthday . And I promised I'd post on his b-day, so yes! Love or die!

**

* * *

**

**Ironic Truth**

Shikamaru heard a knock on the door and became alert. He relaxed when he heard Temari's voice coming from the other side.

"I'm coming in, so don't trap me in your jutsu," she called. Shikamaru sat on the bed, slouching forward and watched as the door opened and Temari stepped in. "I can't believe I have to knock to get into my own room," she muttered, almost inaudibly to Shikamaru.

"How'd it go?" he asked.

"Fine," she said, putting her fan against the wall and smoothing out her kimono. "He doesn't actually hate you—"

"No?" Shikamaru butt in sarcastically.

Temari stared at him to shut him up and continued. "He just based his actions on that rumor I started in Konoha. Somehow it got back to him."

Shikamaru looked at her, confused but unwilling to interrupt again.

"The one about you forcing yourself on me," she said, answering his questioning look.

"Oh, that," he said, putting one hand on his calf with his elbow jutting out and frowning at her. "So this was your fault?"

Her mouth fell open at his blunt comment. "Excuse me? It's your fault for being such an ass to me after kissing me!"

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry," he sighed, followed by a muttered, "Troublesome."

"Hmph. Well I told Gaara the truth about it, so he shouldn't be meddling anymore. In fact, he should apologize eventually. It's only right since he's Kazekage." When Shikamaru only nodded, she went on. "Now all that's left is Kankurou."

"Didn't he leave?" Shikamaru asked.

"So what? I can wait for him in his room," she answered as if it was obvious. Shikamaru shrugged. "Well I _am_ going to wait for him, so you'll need to find something to do."

"Like what?"

"Like go for a walk, get food, go to bed… I don't care. Pick something."

"Troublesome," he muttered, standing up with a groan. "Food sounds good. I need to replenish my energy after… well."

Temari smirked at him. "You really are lazy."

"How is that lazy?" he asked, literally confused.

"You're worn out too easily," she said continuing to smirk. He frowned and was about to retort, but she had already left the room.

--

Temari slipped inside Kankurou's bedroom and was instantly attacked by the smell of wood shavings and poison. Karasu and his other two puppets hung from the walls to her right, their summoning scrolls no where in sight – Kankurou must have taken them with him. She plugged her nose against the smell and stepped precariously around the clothes that were strewn across his floor. His room was about the same size as hers, and his bed was even pushed up against a window like hers. There was a closet in one corner and a dresser to her left. She glanced over at it and was surprised to see that Kankurou's picture collection on top had grown since the last time she had been in his room.

Ever since their family had started to slowly yet surely become closer – after Gaara's encounter with Naruto – Kankurou had begun keeping pictures. It seemed that every time Temari stepped foot in his room, which was _far_ from frequent, he had added to his collection.

She suddenly started when she heard a _poof_ and turned to see Karasu had disappeared. Clearly Kankurou had found a nice spot to let out his probably pent up frustration. Not two seconds later, Kuro-Ari disappeared as well with his own _poof_, followed shortly by Sanshouou. Taking this as a sign that Kankurou would be a while, she decided she could steal a few quick looks at his photos.

Stepping around some more mess, she reached the dresser and bent down to look over the pictures. She saw the first one that he had ever put up: a group photo of Kankurou, Gaara, her and their sensei, Baki. It was their team photo. She saw a faded photograph in sepia that she remembered he had found in a dusty box that had been hidden at the back of a disused closet in their old home. It was a picture of him as a baby with his birth mother. Every time she saw it, she always thought of how uncharacteristic it was of Kankurou to have such a photograph. Then again, having _any_ photographs didn't really seem like a Kankurou thing to do.

She looked over the rest and spotted one of the new additions; a contemplating Gaara in his new Kazekage robe. Kankurou had taken the picture on the day of the coronation ceremony, so he had managed to get him with the hat on. Temari smiled at it and continued her search. She stopped and her smile grew wider at another addition. She picked it up carefully and held it to the light for a better look. It was a picture that Baki had taken on her last birthday. Kankurou had gotten her the plant she had been raving about – the one currently out in the hall – and so she had thrown her arms around Kankurou's neck in thanks before she remembered that they weren't supposed to show their feelings so carelessly. But she was glad that the picture had been taken because it was proof that they weren't so inhuman after all.

She smirked at the look on Kankurou's face; he looked uncomfortable – not very surprising. She remembered the excuse he had made about why he had bothered getting it for her considering they "weren't actually siblings" as he so often pointed out. He had said something about how he figured he would shut her up about it by getting it for her since no one else was going to. Every now and then he would mention regretting getting it for her because she always asked him to feed it while she was away. But the fact that he kept this picture was proof enough that he didn't actually regret it.

She jumped, nearly dropping the photo in its frame, when there was another _poof_ and she saw Sanshouou and Kuro-Ari back on the wall. She replaced the photo, careful to make it look like it hadn't been touched, and looked around for a place to wait for Kankurou. She leaned against a wall that was on the same side as the door, but her half of the wall had been dipped back a few feet which meant she wouldn't be seen when he entered. The element of surprise always held the upper hand.

She waited there for about ten more minutes, and finally let out a huff of frustration. Karasu still hadn't been returned. She slumped against the wall and slid to the floor with a sigh. When the time she had been waiting doubled, she found that her eyes were growing heavy. She wasn't aware that she was dozing off until a final _poof_ brought her back to her senses and she peered around the corner to see Karasu was finally returned. Instead of looking roughed up, like he should have from a fight, he was in better condition than he was when he had first been summoned. That Kankurou; he always found the most interesting ways to calm down.

She became alert and heightened her chakra to push back her drowsiness. She wasn't sure where he was or how far he had gone, but about five minutes later she sensed his chakra signature approaching. Another two minutes and she heard the door downstairs open and then close. It hadn't been slammed, but then again it hadn't been done gently either. She brought her chakra levels back down and masked it as best she could so she wouldn't give herself away. She pushed her self off the ground and stood back up, only to lean against the wall again with her arms crossed and her foot propped up against it. She waited, and it wasn't long before she heard the notorious fifth step groan under Kankurou's weight.

She steadied her breathing and looked at her surroundings. The door beside her opened and she heard it shut heavily with a heavy sigh from Kankurou before he stepped forward into view. Before he had a chance to notice her, she made no hesitating as she grabbed a heavy wooden frame off of his desk and whacked him on the back of the head with it.

"Shit!" He growled, spinning around quickly and readying himself for another attack.

"Just what were you trying to pull earlier?" Temari shot at him, her anger from before renewed at the sight of him.

"Temari?" he asked with a mixture of surprise, impatience, annoyance and anger. "What the—? What are you doing in here?"

"Getting answers," she said with a tone that left no room for argument. She quickly replaced the frame on his dresser before continuing. "What's the deal, Kankurou? That stunt you pulled was low, even for you."

Kankurou hesitated as if the topic was awkward. "Get out."

"And don't go trying to avoid the subject just because it's embarrassing! You were the one that barged in on _me_ having sex, remember?" she huffed when he flinched at her bluntness. _What's his problem? He's acting different_.

"Just get out, okay?" Kankurou said more forcefully, turning away and walking to his bed to sit down and slip out of his shoes. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Alright, what have you heard?" Temari said, staying where she was but resting her weight on one hip and crossing her arms.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, his annoyance growing with his confusion.

"What have you heard?" she repeated. "I know you heard something, but whatever it is, it's not true."

"What's not true?" he growled suspiciously.

"Oh c'mon, Kankurou! Stop acting stupid. I know you heard something. Gaara did too."

Kankurou cocked his head to the side and squinted in her direction to study her from an angle. "Okay, now I'm totally lost." His confusion was genuine.

"You really haven't heard anything?" Temari asked disbelievingly.

"No," he said, dragging out the word warily.

"Good," Temari said with relief, her face suddenly becoming sweet. "So, if you haven't heard anything," he face darkened and she looked at him murderously, then next part coming out as a scream. "Why, in kami's name, did you barge in on us?! What could you possibly have against me being with Shikamaru?! It's none of your business!"

Her fingers twitched as she struggled to keep herself from stepping forward and strangling him.

"Hey, don't get mad at me!" Kankurou yelled back in protest, standing from his bed. "Gaara's the one that came and got _me_ and directed me to _your_ room!"

"I've already spoken with Gaara!" she yelled back, before her own face fell in confusion. "Wait. What?"

"All I did was come home this evening to find Gaara waiting for me and he told me to go upstairs. I found him waiting outside your bedroom, so when I walked closer it was pretty obvious what he wanted me to do." As Kankurou spoke, he seemed to relax a bit as he took the blame off himself.

"Did he threaten you?"

"What?" Kankurou stared at her in bewilderment.

"Gaara. Did he threaten you?" she repeated, still seeking the truth.

"No."

"So if you weren't forced into it, that means you had your own motives!" Temari concluded in exasperation. "Just amuse me and tell me why so I can prove that you should have minded your own business."

"I just…" He trailed off with a huff and turned away from me. "Just never mind."

"Do you like pain?" Temari asked sarcastically. "Because I can easily retrieve my fan from my bedroom."

"Look Temari, I'm sorry," he said in some sort of desperation. Temari's eyes opened wide in disbelief at what she had just heard. "Just drop it, okay? You wouldn't understand."

"I'm not the one you need to be apologizing to!" Temari said as if it was obvious. "And what wouldn't I understand? Because I'm pretty sure I can understand the motives of my own brother."

"I'm not your brother!" Kankurou growled impatiently, his voice making it obvious that they had been through this many times.

"Whatever, you know what I mean," she rolled her eyes, tired of his nitpicking about technicalities of their family line.

"I just don't like seeing you with someone like him," Kankurou said reluctantly.

"That's it?"

"What do you mean 'that's it'?" he shot Temari a look of anger.

"Well, if it's just a matter of feeling a need to protect your sibling, why didn't you just say so?! But honestly, if you care about me that much then you shouldn't have chosen a situation like that to act—"

"For the last time, we're _not_ related!" he cut her off viciously.

"What's your problem, Kankurou?! You always go on about how we're not siblings, and yet more and more off late you've become a perfect representation of a protective brother! We're siblings by our parents marriage, so what's the big deal with us _saying_ it?!"

"That's just it, you don't get it!" Kankurou yelled, taking a step closer to her. "I've _never_ loved you as a sister!"

Temari froze and stared at Kankurou. Her anger and frustration had been replaced with hurt before she had a chance to control it. Kankurou watched her, breathing heavily. His chakra levels were rising and when she raised her own she detected an insanely fast heart rate coming from the man before her. She masked her hurt with the anger from before and looked him in the eye.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked darkly. It was almost a whisper.

"Oh, come _on,_ Temari! I know you're smarter than that."

"Well if you're saying you hate me, I say that's bull, because you keep goddamn pictures of me on your dresser!" She said, throwing her arm out in the direction of said dresser for emphasis.

"Well if you can figure that much out," he said, lowering his voice and dropping his body back onto his bed. "Then when I say I don't love you as a sister, the rest should be obvious."

Temari froze once again and stared at him. Only this time, her face didn't hold confusion, but realization.

"Kankurou," she said tentatively, taking a step towards him.

"Just go away," he said, almost pleadingly, while looking at the floor.

"Kankurou," she tried again, her heart beating inside her chest as she stumbled to figure out why she hadn't seen it before, and at the same time terrified that it was actually true. "Kankurou, are you in—?"

"I said get out," he cut her off, turning and pulling his legs up to lie down on his bed and stare up at the ceiling grimly.

Temari watched him helplessly. She hesitated and wondered if she should push him farther. But there was no point.

She knew it was true.

She turned slowly and headed for his door. She opened it slowly and looked back at him, then shook her head and walked out, shutting it softly behind her. She leaned against it and fell to the floor, letting out a breath she hadn't know she'd been holding.

She looked up when she heard the fifth step on the staircase in front of her groan under someone's weight. She saw the black, pineapple haircut first, and then the rest of Shikamaru's body came into view. When he spotted her sitting against Kankurou's bedroom door, he looked at her with concern. Temari had already averted her eyes to stare blankly at the floor to her side. Shikamaru walked over to her and crouched down in an attempt to catch her eye.

"Didn't go so well?" he asked, trying to get her attention without making her angry.

Her eyes started moving and searching as if she didn't know where the voice had come from. She finally looked at Shikamaru and her wide eyes relaxed and her parted mouth closed. She looked away from him once more and focused at the same spot on the floor before answering.

"Kankurou's in love with me."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** I think I've made it clear that in _my_ story they are _not_ related... _NOT_! So flame me for sandcest and I'll report it as abuse. 


	21. Ambitious Love

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVERYBODY!!!  
I'm not even going to bother saying anything about how long this took...

**

* * *

**

**Ambitious Love**

Temari stood silently and walked to her room without waiting for a word from Shikamaru. He stood from his crouching position and followed after her to find her leaning against a wall in her room and falling slowly to the floor. He walked over and crouched down again in front of her.

"But, isn't he your brother?" Shikamaru asked, careful to not sound critical.

"No. He's only my brother because my mom married his dad. So no blood relation," she said quickly. When Shikamaru didn't answer she huffed. "I'm so _stupid_! I should have seen it! He was always going on about how we weren't siblings, even though he cared about me _so_ much."

A silence fell over them as Temari ran things over in her head and Shikamaru tried to think of something to say. It was awkward and far from anything Shikamaru had been thinking. But at the same time, he didn't find it disgusting – he supposed it was because he was too lazy to give a proper reaction.

"Talk about a dangerous love," he said, letting out a heavy breath and moving to sit beside Temari against her bedroom wall. "It's an easy way to break your soul."

"Heh," she said, letting a small smile grace her lips. "That was rather sentimental of you. But if you're going to put it that way, it's more like fatal love. No wonder he didn't tell me."

"Come to think of it, troublesome love sounds more accurate," Shikamaru said, turning to her with a smile.

"Of course you'd think that. To you, _our_ love is troublesome." Temari said smoothly when she looked at him, then turning to look back at the floor. Shikamaru stared at her, his face frozen in some sort of shock. Temari didn't notice, but it only took a moment for her face to mirror his.

"I-I mean…I didn't mean…" she found herself stumbling over her words, trying to find a way around what she had just said. Neither of them had actually mentioned love yet. And now it had just slipped out. "I'm not trying to… I mean… It's not like…"

Shikamaru smirked at her efforts. "You're right," he finally said. She turned to him without changing her expression. "It _is_ troublesome."

He leaned towards her and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips. When he pulled back, she was half smiling, half smirking at him.

"I prefer to think of it as… ambitious."

He nodded slowly without looking at her. "But ambitious things are troublesome."

"What am I going to do?" Temari suddenly moaned, dropping her head between her knees.

"About what?" Shikamaru asked, turning to her.

"What do you mean 'about what'?" She said, shooting up and turning to him.

"Oh right," he said, reaching up to rub the back of his head. "Your brother." He threw a sideways glance at Temari and at the look on her face he quickly corrected himself. "I mean, Kankurou… Who is not your brother."

"Oh shut up," she said in exasperation, standing quickly. She stumbled and held her head, leaning against the wall for support. Shikamaru stood up to steady her and before he could ask if she was okay, she answered the unspoken question. "I'm fine. I just stood up too quickly."

Temari stood up straight and let out an amused sigh. "Oh wow, am I ever tired."

Shikamaru let go of her arm and stretched his own with an exaggerated yawn. "It's too late for this." He dropped his arms. "I'm going to bed."

He walked over to her bed and practically plopped onto it, then rolled over to make room for her.

Temari watched him and figured that as much as she hated leaving things between her and Kankurou hanging like this, she wouldn't be able to work anything out until after she'd had a good nights sleep. She sighed reluctantly and undid her kimono to change into something more comfortable for sleeping.

By the time she had changed and went back over to the bed, she saw that Shikamaru had already fallen asleep. His jacket and Chuunin vest were on the floor, but he was still wearing his mesh shirt and pants. She rolled her eyes and climbed in beside him, tugging on the sheet so she could cover herself properly.

Despite her overwhelming need for sleep, she found it was no match for the unsettling truth that was resting at the very front of her mind. She couldn't remember the last time she had tossed and turned so much in an attempt to sleep. The most annoying thing was that Shikamaru managed to sleep right through the night.

--

Tsunade leaned back contentedly and brought her sake glass up to her lips. A sudden knock at the door caused her to spill the sake on her lap as she shot forward with surprise. She huffed out a growl and called to her disturber.

"What is it?"

The door opened slowly and carefully and a timid looking Shizune stepped in. "Tsunade-sama?"

"Yes?"

"We still need to pick someone to head to Suna in order to accompany the Kazekage back to Konoha with Shikamaru." She smiled nervously and let out an equally nervous laugh. "And we're kind of running out of time."

"Oh, just send Naruto," Tsunade said impatiently, waving a hand dismissively at Shizune.

"Actually, Tsunade-sama," Shizune began fearfully. "Naruto-kun's away on a mission."

"Oh…" Tsunade trailed off and thought about it for a moment. "How about Shino?"

"Shino's out on a mission training with his father," Shizune said quickly as if it was her fault.

"Ah." Tsunade looked at Shizune over her fingers. "Hmm… Chouji!"

"Chouji is in the hospital for indigestion," Shizune smiled weakly.

"Are you trying to make this difficult?" Tsunade huffed. "What about Neji?"

A silence followed where Shizune and Tsunade studied each other as they though of the suggestion. "Nah," they decided at the same time.

"We could send Hinata-kun," Shizune suggested.

Tsunade stared at her apprentice quizzically for another short silence. "To see the Kazekage? Ha, yeah right." She took another moment to think. "We could send Lee. He's good friends with the Kazekage."

"Lee is out on a mission with Gai."

"Oh…" Tsunade said, turning her gaze to the side. She opened her mouth to suggest another name but Shizune cut her off.

"Tenten went with them." Shizune smiled innocently at the glare she received from the Hokage.

"Hmph," Tsunade pouted. "Well, what's Kiba doing?"

"Kiba could go," Shizune said, standing up straighter and smiling more because she didn't have to explain why yet another person was unavailable.

"Then why didn't you say so in the first place?"

"Uh… uh…" Shizune's smile became embarrassed and she rubbed the back of her head nervously. It seemed a change of subject was in order. "We should send a healer."

"Great! Send Sakura!"

"Um…" Shizune's smile fell and her shoulders slumped. _Here we go again._ "Sakura left with Naruto."

Tsunade let out a not-so-subtle impatient huff. "Let me guess? Ino is on a mission too…"

"No, Ino can go," Shizune smiled, once again.

"Perfect! Then it's settled," Tsunade said, settling back into her chair. "Send message to the two right away and tell them to get their butts up here. ASAP."

--

Kiba had just begun roughhousing with Akamaru when there was a knock at the door. Akamaru became alert and barked excitedly at the shadow beyond. Kiba recognized the smell of one of Tsunade's messengers and opened to door to find him panting on the other side.

"Yes?" Kiba asked quickly but respectfully.

"A message from Tsunade-sama," the man said. "She needs you to report to her office in the Hokage's mansion right away. She says it's urgent."

"Thank you," Kiba said with a small nod before closing the door and turning to Akamaru. "Do you hear that boy? We're going on a mission."

He was given a bark of approval in response.

--

Ino was busy touching up her makeup when she received a knock at _her_ door. She had been in the middle of applying some eyeliner to the bottom edge of her eye, and the knock had caused her to jump in surprise and draw a black line unceremoniously across her cheek. She was now huffing and storming to the front door to rip it open.

"What is it?" she said sharply to the messenger panting on the front step.

"Tsunade-sama has requested your immediate presence in her office," he said between breaths. Ino didn't let him say another word before she slammed the door in his face. She stomped back to her mirror, removed the eyeliner across her cheek and reapplied it gracefully under her eye. She then grabbed her mission gear and headed back to the door. Tearing it open, she found the man still standing there, watching her pleadingly. She smiled sweetly at him.

"I'm on my way," she said, walking passed him towards the Hokage's mansion. As soon as he could no longer see her face, it turned back into a scowl.

--

Tsunade leaned back contentedly and brought her sake glass up to her lips. A sudden knock at the door caused her to spill the sake on her lap as she shot forward with surprise. She huffed out a growl and called to her disturber.

"What is it this time?"

"Kiba and Ino have arrived," Shizune said, stepping in and opening the door wider so the two to enter behind her.

"You have a mission for us?" Ino said through clenched teeth.

"Yes, I need you to both go to Suna in order to escort the Kazekage back to Konoha for the final round of the Chuunin exams," Tsunade said, suddenly alert and official. "As you probably know, Shikamaru is already in Suna; however it seems we need to send a few extra ninja. I have sent word to the Kazekage that you are coming with a notification of a change in plans. Originally the plan was for him to come a few days before the battles, but due to current gang activity on the Tree Route, we have plans to send the Kazekage on the Beat Route instead. This route will take longer and so we must put this plan into action immediately. Got that?"

Ino and Kiba, who had been loosing focus during the explanation suddenly stood erect. "Yes, Tsunade-sama."

"Then you are dismissed!"

* * *

**Author's Notes: **So here's the thing. You - the readers - get to decide what happens. Or rather, you have to tell me if you hate my idea. Do you want Kankuro to find out he's gay, or die? Or he can be straight but that won't have a very good ending. So choose! Oh, and I apoligize, but I won't be able to update again until next year... Yeah I know, bad joke. Vote, vote, vote!!! 


	22. The Twist

First of all, I want to apologize. I feel like I let a lot of you down. You all clearly loved my story and I hope that you manage to find this and that you like how it turns out. I think I just got overwhelmed with the fact that it was almost over and didn't really want it to be.

Second of all, I find it ironic that the last chapter promises an update in the New Year and it is once again a New Year... Only three years later. (Wow, I thought it was only two... Would you believe me if I told you I was teleproted into the future?). But I'm back! And finally, _finally_ finishing up some long, lost stories.

So this one's for all my faithful reviewers who checked back time and time again to see if I had updated, only to realize the update was never coming. Because here it is:

**

* * *

The Twist**

Temari woke with a horrible crook in her neck. She bent it backward to stretch it out while looking around the room. It felt like there was an eerie stillness in the room and she was almost surprised to find Shikamaru snoozing beside her. She carefully slid off of the bed so that she didn't wake and almost tip-toed to her door. She didn't _really_ tip-toe... Skilled ninjas did _not_ tip-toe.

Once she had opened the door, stepped into the hall, and shut it quietly behind her, she straightened her shoulders and headed for Kankurou's room. This was something that they had to sort out sooner than later and so she planned to tell him that it just wasn't possible for there to be something between them other than sibling love – related or not. She raised her fist and rapped quietly on the door and found no answer. Thinking he might still be asleep, she heightened her senses to locate his presence only to find that his room was empty. She sighed and headed downstairs to the kitchen to grab some form of breakfast out of a cupboard.

"Temari."

Temari jumped while she was busy rummaging through a cupboard and turned around to see her brother. "Oh, Gaara. Good mourning."

"Kankurou left early this morning with his puppets for some extra training. Did something happen?" he inquired without returning a greeting.

"It's not like you to get involved," Temari mused. "How should I know what's wrong with him?"

Gaara stared at Temari intently and she wondered how long she'd be able to hold up before she cracked under his gaze. "I heard you two fighting last night."

"I'd rather not talk about it," Temari grumbled through her teeth. She was grateful when Gaara turned and left the kitchen without asking for her to say anymore, but she knew this meant she'd have to tell him later. She was not looking forward to the potentially awkward conversation.

Kankurou had woken up before Temari and tried to wrestle a mission out of Gaara so he could get away. When it hadn't worked, he'd left the house anyway.

He now sat in the shadow of one of the few trees of the Suna training ground with all three of his puppets as he tried to work out a few kinks in some new adjustments he had made to Sanshouou last night. The hinges for his giant shield had been replaced with stronger ones that made it a bit harder to control and Kankurou was getting his fingers used to the new feel of them. It wasn't long before his reflexes got the hang of it and Sanshouou was moving for him like usual. Next, he took control of Karasu and tried out the new blades he had attached last night disguised as Karasu's ears.

He suddenly stopped what he was doing and let Karasu fall limply to the ground. He stared at it for a moment before letting out a strangled cry of frustration out to the sky.

"Why did I have to be so _stu_pid?" he huffed under his breath. "Should have just shut my damn mouth while I still could." He changed positions so that he sat on his haunches and took control of Karasu again. He hastily started ejecting the various weapons at an innocent stump embedded in the ground. If other trainers had been keeping their distance before, now there was no one left for Kankurou to see.

* * *

"Just so you know," Ino panted as she jumped off yet another branch and continued a speedy pace. "You get to pay for my manicure once we get back to Konoha because…" she jumped off a branch again, "it's your fault they're ruined already since you won't let us slow down or take a break."

"Che," Kiba chortled from a branch ahead of her. "I don't think so. I'm just following orders from Tsunade. We have to get there quickly."

"Yes, but she didn't tell us to kill ourselves in the process," Ino whined. "I'm getting blisters on my feet."

"If you're really that weak," Kiba half teased, half chided. "Akamaru can carry you." Akamaru let out a _whuff_ of disapproval from a few branches ahead.

"Ugh, and get the smell of dog all over me? No thanks!" Ino stuck her chin out in defiance and sped up. Akamaru grumbled up ahead and Kiba grinned.

"Trust me," he flashed a mischievous smile at Ino. "Akamaru's not too found about smelling like a pig, either."

Ino's mouth fell open in horror and she glared at Kiba. "Did you just…?"

Kiba only laughed and went faster.

**

* * *

**

**A Few Days Later**

* * *

The sun was filtering through the trees outside Temari's window and into her blinking eyes. She rubbed them groggily and shifted to see Shikamaru still conked out beside her. She stretched as best she could on her bed without disturbing him and swung her legs over the edge. She squinted her eyes to focus on her room and stood up slowly.

Slipping out of her wrap around and grabbing a towel off the floor, she winced as she replayed the other night in her head. Every time she imagined Gaara and Kankurou storming in on them, she cringed. She had a feeling it would have that effect on her for a while.

In the end, Kankurou had managed to get a mission after all when a ninja claimed he was too sick to go on the one he'd been assigned. Temari suspected foul play. She was none too pleased that Kankurou had left because the more time she had to think about confronting him, the more she dreaded it. She wished he would have just let them get it out of the way.

With a sigh she crept out of her room and tiptoed to the bathroom. She could tell that the rest of house wasn't up yet and was relieved that she had a bit of time for herself.

A little while later, Shikamaru groaned as he forced himself to sit up in bed. Temari was already gone, which didn't surprise him, but he knew she'd still be somewhere in the house. He flung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, arching his back to crack it and stretch at the same time. He relaxed his body with a sigh and headed for the door, going out into the hall.

By the time Temari had showered and moisturized and towelled her hair, Shikamaru had gotten up and left her room. She quickly got dressed when she found that he was no longer sprawled on her bed and went to head downstairs. She hissed painfully when glass cut into her foot by her door. Glancing down, she saw that the broken perfume bottle still hadn't been cleaned up.

She pulled the stray piece out of her foot with a flinch and hobbled around, keeping her bleeding heel off the floor, picking up the larger pieces and discarding them. She brushed the rest up with a dustpan before heading downstairs.

Shikamaru instantly noticed that she was keeping weight off her foot when she came into the kitchen. He was halfway through a bowl of cereal and looked at her worriedly.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah… just a piece of glass," she muttered, grabbing a bowl without looking at him.

"That's not what I meant," Shikamaru murmured. Temari sighed. They'd talked a bit more about what had happened with Kankurou and Shikamaru knew mostly how she felt about it. He was supposed to be returning later today.

Temari sat beside him and poured some cereal and milk into her bowl, stirring it absentmindedly with her spoon. When she didn't answer, Shikamaru put an arm up around her shoulder and squeezed her close to him, kissing the top of her head. She smiled hesitantly at his attempt of comforting her but she still felt rotten. She couldn't believe her lack of fortune.

Kankurou was never one to take a look at kunnoichi or village girls, let alone be interested in them. She wondered why it had to have been her. Maybe because she was the only girl he had ever been close to. They obviously cared for each other, and if it was true that Kankurou never really viewed her in a sisterly way that his feelings towards her could have taken the turn they did. She felt like one of those girls that told her "BFF" that she loved him like a brother when on the inside he was screaming _I love you!_ and wanted more.

Kankurou had already reached Suna after his very short and very lame mission and was stalling around the main gate so that he could avoid going home. He had taken a seat on a low and well shadowed wall, watching the people traffic ambling by. After an hour or so of observing, he felt himself drifting off. He was jolted back to alertness at the annoyed cry of a kunnoichi.

"What do you _mean_ you don't have any information of our arrival? We were sent here to help escort the Kazekage himself to the Chuunin exams!" shrieked a blonde with a long, high ponytail.

"I'm sorry miss, but I haven't anything of that here," a gate guard explained. "And I'm afraid your story is a little hard to believe. The Chuunin exams are a week away. Why would you be here so early?"

"I told you already!" she complained. "We're taking a longer route this time."

"It's cool, Sano," Kankurou drawled, rescuing the girl from the misinformed guard and the surrounding citizens from the obnoxiously loud argument. "She's telling the truth."

"Oh, I'm so sorry Kankurou-sama," Sano apologized. "I had no record of it."

"No it's cool. Gaara probably just forgot to file it. He's been really busy this week." Kankurou sighed, realizing that now he would have to escort her to the Kazekage's tower. "I'll take it from here."

"Kankurou-sama, huh?" the girl smiled innocently. "I've heard of you. Thanks for your help."

"No problem," Kankurou muttered, ignoring her flirting. "Did you come alone? I thought there was someone else with you."

"Oh, Kiba? Yeah, he's over there," she pointed behind her with her thumb. "I'm Ino by the way…" Kankurou ignored her and looked to where she was pointing. The first thing he noticed was the massive white dog. Then he saw the dark, messy-haired, tight-leather-jacketed, cheeky-grinned guy scratching behind the dog's ears. He recognized him instantly.

Kankurou had saved his ass once from some weird clones and had never forgotten it. He wasn't sure why but he felt like the sun had just gotten hotter and like he had been running around. When Kiba looked up suddenly and caught his eye wonderingly, Kankurou's heart thudded and he looked away, trying to clear his head.

_What the hell's gotten into me?_ he thought to himself. _Snap out of it_.


	23. Guess Work

And to make up for my great lack in punctuality, I'm doing two chapters back-to-back. ^_^

**

* * *

Guess Work**

When Kiba got up and jogged over to them, Kankurou did his best to avoid his gaze. "This way," said quickly, turning away from them.

The whole time, Ino wouldn't shut up, trying even to pick fights with Kiba, but he wasn't biting. Kankurou found himself smiling with malicious satisfaction that Kiba seemed uninterested in her. And Kiba couldn't take his eyes off of Kankurou. Kiba had always sort of had a thing for him, but an opportunity had never presented itself before. Maybe this would be his chance to see if there was a spark after all. It might be tricky though. He wasn't sure if Kankurou was aware of it or not.

Temari and Shikamaru had headed out a little after lunch to the Kazekage's office. The Konoha ninja would arrive soon and Gaara had asked for them to come to greet them. Now standing in the office with Gaara looking pensive behind his desk, they waited. They'd just gotten word that Kankurou was escorting them over now. Temari's heart was racing with nervousness. She had no idea what to say to him or even how to look at him. She sucked in a tiny breath when there was a knock on the door and Ino and Kiba entered, followed by Kankurou. He didn't look at her.

Temari was hardly paying attention through the whole thing. She wasn't even sure why she was there. She was trying desperately not to look at Kankurou, and failing miserably, while running different scenarios through her head. She noticed that he looked uncomfortable and distracted, but when she finally realized why, all trains of her thoughts were pulled to a quick stop and thrown into reverse.

_Is Kankurou… checking out… Kiba?_ She could hardly believe her eyes, but Kankurou was definitely staring at the Konoha guy, up and down, and the whole time his expression looked like he couldn't quite figure something out. Temari didn't even realize she was being addressed until Kankurou turned to look at her. She realized then that they all were expectantly.

"Uh, sorry, what was that?" she asked, turning to her brother.

When Kankurou had caught Temari staring at him, he found himself pondering the expression on her face. She didn't look worried or upset or angry or frustrated or any of the things he'd thought she would be feeling. Instead she looked relieved. When Gaara repeated his question to Temari, Kankurou was hardly paying attention. He found his eyes wander back to Kiba, a little bit in front of him. He was confused. Definitely confused.

He felt like emotions and thoughts that should have taken his whole life to process were flashing through his brain way too quickly to comprehend completely – but they were also impossible to ignore. He _liked_ looking at Kiba. And he found himself hoping, _waiting_, for Kiba to look at him, talk to him, touch him…

He shook himself and tried to focus on Gaara. He was dismissing most of them but asking Temari and Ino to stay behind. Temari was frustrated. Keeping her in the office would prevent her from confronting Kankurou and she didn't want to give him another chance to slip away. And that's exactly how he left the office. He _slipped_ out… right behind Kiba.

Kankurou had followed Kiba kind of by accident, and he wasn't sure what to say. Shikamaru had sauntered off the other way and it was just the two of them and the large, white dog.

"Uh…" Kankurou tried.

"What's up?" Kiba asked casually. Kankurou couldn't come up with anything to say so Kiba helped out. "Hungry?"

"Not really," Kankurou muttered, immediately regretting it because it would make things more difficult. They were suddenly stopped in a deserted hallway, facing each other. Waiting.

In any other circumstance, Kankurou would out right refuse to acknowledge what was going on. He would resort to complete denial. But the current circumstance was that he had unrequited feelings for Temari, a girl who thought of him as a brother, and if he didn't come up with some damage control fast he would ruin their friendship forever. That's why it was so easy to accept; because he would willingly, gladly, accept this if it meant that he had been wrong all along – if it meant he could fix it.

When he looked at Kiba he felt fluttery and his adrenaline kicked in. When Kiba grinned at him and joked around, his stomach did somersaults. He knew that if he reached out a hand and touched his skin, it would burn. He had never felt that way for Temari; just an unrelenting protectiveness and need for approval and affection. Definitely a love, but perhaps he had called it the wrong one because he had never felt so attached to a girl before.

Standing here, staring unwaveringly into Kiba's face, he at last knew why.

"Actually, food sounds really good right now," Kankurou said, trying out a smile. It felt awkward until Kiba grinned at him mischievously and the smile turned natural. He motioned for Kiba to follow him, shoving a hand in his pocket. "I know a good place."

When Temari finally got out of the office, Kankurou was long gone. She huffed and went to the roof, knowing she'd find a certain ninja there.

"Hey," she mumbled as she sat down next to Shikamaru, who was obviously cloud watching.

"Hey. Did you manage to talk to him?"

"No, he ran off," she growled. "But I think I've figured it out."

"Figured it out?" Shikamaru asked, pushing himself up onto his elbows to look at her. "You mean what to say to him?"

"No," Temari hesitated. "I… okay don't laugh at me or anything because I'm not crazy…" Shikamaru snickered at her "…I think…" she took a deep breath. "I think Kankurou's gay."

Shikamaru's eyebrows shot up. He was obviously waiting for her to prove it.

She huffed. "Oh come _on_, he was totally checking out Kiba that entire meeting!" she defended herself. "He could hardly take his eyes off him!"

"I hadn't noticed," Shikamaru shrugged.

"Well I hadn't expected you to. But I swear I'm onto something."

"How exactly does that tie into Kankurou professing his love for you?" Shikamaru teased, earning a punch in the arm from Temari.

"I think he's just confused," she explained, staring upwards. "I'm the only girl in his life he's ever been close to. It would be easy for him to mistake his feelings towards me. It's not like he'd know any better if no other girl made him feel something."

"Ah, I guess," Shikamaru shrugged again. "Are you going to tell him that though? I don't think he'll appreciate it."

"Ugh, I don't know what I'm going to do," Temari groaned, running her hands over her face. "This is all so troublesome." She could tell Shikamaru was silently laughing at her word choice so she poked him in the ribs. He flinched away quickly and grabbed her wrist. He gave her an 'oh no you don't' look and pulled her down and rolled over so she was pinned beneath him.

"There will be none of that," he breathed, leaning in close and kissing her cheek. She glared at him, but was unable to suppress a smile. He teased her a bit more with misplaced kisses before finally choosing her mouth and they allowed themselves to push away each other's troubles… if only for a little while.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Don't worry... It's still all about TemaxShika... Well mostly. And there may be hints of fabulouslness (as in yaoi) but I won't subject any of you to it since this is technically a straight fic. So if you're uncomfotable with fabulousness, just suck it up, b/c gays will continue to exist anyway. (Yes that was my little attempt at defending against LGBTQ violence and abuse... including verbal).


End file.
